00:00The Israeli Security Cabinet has approved plans to expand its assault in Gaza and militarily
00:05occupy the entirety of the Gaza Strip.
00:09Israel has begun calling up tens of thousands of reservists.
00:12The army chief says the decision is aimed at intensifying pressure on Hamas.
00:16That is, despite growing calls from inside Israel for a deal that would bring Israeli
00:20captives home.
00:22Let's speak to Hamdan Salahut, who's reported extensively on Israel's war on Gaza, both
00:26in Israel and from Amman in Jordan.
00:28At this point, what exactly do we know?
00:31Well, we know that this was a unanimous decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet last night
00:36to not only expand their operations within the Gaza Strip, but also to seize the entirety
00:43of the Gaza Strip.
00:44This is something that members of Netanyahu's right-wing government, the fringe voices, as
00:49we previously thought, this was their dream all along to take over the Gaza Strip.
00:53But you have to remember that many of them didn't even leave Netanyahu's government when
00:58the ceasefire came into place because they were promised a, quote, absolute takeover
01:03of Gaza.
01:04So the Israelis are kind of redefining what their war goals here, because clearly after
01:08more than a year and a half of fighting, they haven't been able to contain Hamas.
01:12They haven't been able to defeat them.
01:14They haven't been able to ensure their own security.
01:16But more importantly to the Israeli public, they haven't been able to bring about the release
01:20of the Israeli captives.
01:21So with this plan, the new army chief of staff says that this is going to be the way to do
01:25that.
01:26But of course, there are going to be risks.
01:28And within Israel already, this is not popular, saying that the Israeli government is going
01:32after land grabs, prioritizing that and these right-wing sort of ideals over the lives of
01:39the captives still held in Gaza.
01:40Yeah, there has been a shift, hasn't there?
01:42Because in the beginning, it was all about getting the captives back officially.
01:46And now, in the last few weeks, we've heard one of the far-right ministers, Bezalel Smotrich,
01:54say actually his priority is the land in Gaza.
01:57And then a couple days ago, we heard the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, echo that
02:01sentiment.
02:02Well, if you've heard from these members of the far-right, the ultra-right within Israel,
02:08they've been saying since the start of the war, actually, that while they want the captives
02:11back, it's actually not their priority.
02:13Their priority is the destruction of Hamas.
02:16And while they do want to bring the captives back to Israel, it's not the main thing for
02:20them when it comes to their goals of the war.
02:23So they're redefining actually what's important to them.
02:26And now you have Benjamin Netanyahu with this plan to take over Gaza that the Israeli public
02:32is calling the, quote, Netanyahu Smotrich plan to abandon the hostages.
02:37This is how the family members are receiving this.
02:40So there have been comments from the right wing previously.
02:43But just this morning, you have Smotrich, who said that it's time that the word occupation
02:49is not something that people are afraid of.
02:51It's time people start welcoming this kind of rhetoric.
02:54So it just goes to show you this sort of shift where before this was something on the far
02:58right that essentially Netanyahu was dismissing, saying that this is not going to happen.
03:02But this is what's becoming the line of the coalition.
03:05And a reminder to viewers that under international law, the Gaza Strip is occupied by Israel,
03:11was occupied by Israel even before they had boots on the ground.
03:14I mean, we know that the international law is very clear on that.
03:18Do we have any indication right now on what then?
03:23If they do, it's an if at this point.
03:25But if they do reoccupy the entirety of this strip, what's the what then to just keep it?
03:31Well, it's a little bit unclear because this is a plan that's not going to come to fruition
03:35apparently for a few weeks.
03:37One Israeli source who leaked this entire plan says that they're kind of waiting for U.S.
03:43President Donald Trump to visit the region so they can get that extra support from him.
03:47You have the communications minister, Shlomo Qadri, saying that along with the approval
03:51of these plans now needs to come also the instillment of the voluntary migration plan
03:58of Palestinians, saying they need to kick all the Palestinians out so that Israel can have
04:02this land.
04:03So there's that.
04:04But you also have fighting that's going to intensify as part of this plan.
04:09But the Israeli army chief of staff said that when he was sworn in, when he took over for
04:14his predecessor, saying that 2025 was definitely going to be a year of fighting.
04:19And according to this plan that was unanimously approved, it's going to start in the north.
04:22They're going to try to push as many Palestinians as they can to the south before they ultimately
04:26go to the central part of the Strip and then the south.
04:30But what is their plan for the Palestinians?
04:32It's still unclear.
04:32Which is absolutely the most important point here, because we talked about the land, but
04:36there are 2.3 to 2.4 million people living inside the Gaza Strip.
04:41And you reminded us that the far right of this government, which now appears to be the line
04:45of the entire government, says they should then be somehow removed or, as they say, voluntarily
04:50leave the Strip.
04:52Hamdas al-Hood, thank you very much.
04:53Ori Goldberg is an Israeli political commentator, and he says a prolonged war in Gaza will not
05:01grant Israel security.
05:04Netanyahu's government has committed, so has Netanyahu.
05:07He's all in, at least for now.
05:09But he has an opposition.
05:11That opposition is on the streets.
05:13Will that opposition be translated into a mass refusal to report for service?
05:18I'm not sure.
05:18I don't know if that'll be the case.
05:21But Israelis are beginning to experiment with saying no, not to Netanyahu.
05:25Because remember, Israelis support Netanyahu's policy.
05:28They're not saying no to Netanyahu.
05:30They're saying no to that side of themselves that is used to bowing their heads before the
05:34instructions of the state, doing what is necessary, what is decreed as necessary by the government.
05:40More and more Israelis are starting to entertain the possibility.
05:44None of this has to do with the Palestinians, but it does have to do with the fact that a
05:49prolonged and expanded war in Gaza is seen as an effort that is not related to security.
05:55Security is the utmost foundational principle of Israel.
06:00It is above and beyond politics.
06:01This war is now seen as political, especially when its goal is being declared as the occupation
06:07of Gaza.
06:07That is very much settler parlance.
06:09And there are a lot of Israelis who are getting very angry when they hear this.
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