Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his security cabinet's plan to take over Gaza is more expansive than previously announced, arguing on Monday that Israel "has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas."
Netanyahu's office originally announced the takeover on Friday, but he now says the operations will include not only Gaza City but also in the "central camps" and Muwasi. The latter areas are home to well over 500,000 people. The Israeli prime minister says he has spoken with President Donald Trump about the plan and says he thanked him for America's "steadfast support."
"Our goal is not to occupy Gaza, our goal is to free Gaza," Netanyahu said Monday. His office says the goals behind the takeover are to fully root out Hamas everywhere in Gaza before stabilizing the region and eventually handing leadership off to friendly Arab forces opposed to Hamas.
The Security Cabinet's Friday announcement said it adopted, by vote, five principles for concluding the war which include: the disarming of Hamas, the return of all hostages – living and deceased – the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
ISRAEL SECURITY CABINET APPROVES PLAN TO OCCUPY GAZA CITY
The plan gives the green light to Defense Minister Israel Katz to call up over 400,000 military reservists to carry out the operation until November 30.
News of the operation comes as many of Israel's longtime allies have announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state. France announced such willingness earlier this year, while the United Kingdom and Canada followed over the past two weeks. Australia was the latest country to do so on Sunday.
RECOGNIZING A PALESTINIAN STATE NOW WILL COMPLICATE FUTURE PEACE EFFORTS, EXPERTS WARN
"Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own, predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, referring to the governing entity of the Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
Those commitments, he said, included the demilitarization of Gaza and the holding of elections – with no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government. Australia has designated Hamas a terrorist entity and Albanese repeated Monday his government's calls for the group to return Israeli hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.
"A two-state solution is humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza," Albanese said.
CANADA PLANS TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATE IN SEPTEMBER, PM CARNEY SAYS
The prime minister said the situation there "has gone beyond the world’s worst fears." He accused the Israeli government of continuing "to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children."
Meanwhile, the U.S. has continued to defend Israel against accusations of genocide at the United Nations. Other rival nations on the U.N. Security Council have been all too willing to criticize Israel, however, with China condemning the situation in Gaza as alleged "collective punishment," and Russia calling it a "reckless intensification of hostilities" at a security meeting on Sunday.
Fox News' Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report
