Channel 12 reported that "22 ministers and members of the ruling coalition, led by (National Security Minister and leader of the Jewish Power Party) Itamar Ben-Gvir, submitted a request to the Minister of Defense to conduct a tour of the northern Gaza Strip border, in preparation for a full occupation of the Strip."
Protesters calling for the tour raised the slogan, "The return of the Jewish people to these places is not just a strategic move, but a return to Zion," according to the channel.
She added that in addition to all members of the Jewish Power party, a number of ministers and Knesset members from the ruling Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also requested the tour.
The channel indicated that the tour will be in the northern Gaza Strip, which previously included three settlements: "Eli Sinai," "Dugit," and "Nissanit." These settlements were evacuated during the "disengagement" operation in 2005, along with the rest of the "Gush Katif" settlements in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
She claimed that "this area (northern Gaza Strip) is completely under the control of the Israeli army, is empty of residents, and is not subject to security restrictions." She confirmed that among the signatories to the tour request, in addition to Ben-Gvir, were the Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, the Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar, the Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu, and others.
The channel said that "the signatories to the request for the tour believe that preventing it by the Minister of Defense in the absence of any security impediment would be a political decision," it said.
This comes amid escalating Israeli calls since the start of the genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, to reoccupy the Strip and settle there.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump criticized the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip 20 years ago, describing it as an "unwise decision that only made the situation worse," according to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv.
On Monday evening, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that Netanyahu had presented the security cabinet with a plan to occupy parts of the Gaza Strip, allegedly in an attempt to keep Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the government after he threatened to resign following Tel Aviv's allegations that it had "allowed" the entry of aid into the Strip.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv "will give Hamas several days to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, or implement the plan to annex parts of the Strip in stages until the Palestinian movement surrenders." He claimed that the plan "has received approval from the US administration."
Hamas has repeatedly declared its willingness to release the Israeli prisoners, currently estimated by Israeli authorities at 50, including 20 living prisoners, "all at once," in exchange for an end to the war of extermination, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But Netanyahu is evading the situation by proposing new conditions, including the disarmament of Palestinian factions, and is currently insisting on reoccupying Gaza.
The opposition and the prisoners' families assert that Netanyahu is continuing the war to maintain his position, fearing the collapse of his government if the most extremist faction, which refuses to end the war, withdraws.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The US-backed genocide left approximately 206,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
