Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Friday considered the Security Cabinet's approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to occupy the entire Gaza Strip a "disaster that will lead to many more disasters."
In a post on the X platform, Lapid noted that this decision came "in complete contradiction to the opinion of the army and security circles, and without any consideration for the exhaustion and depletion suffered by the fighting forces."
He added that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich pushed Netanyahu to take this step, which "will last for many months," warning that it will lead to "the death of Israeli prisoners held by Palestinian factions, the deaths of a large number of soldiers, a huge financial cost amounting to tens of billions, and a potential political collapse."
Lapid claimed that this scenario is "exactly what Hamas wants: to plunge Israel into a field war with no clear goal or vision for the day after, into a pointless occupation that no one knows where it will lead."
MK Yoray Lahav Herzanu of the opposition Yesh Atid party criticized the decision, saying the government "sentences living prisoners to death and sacrifices prisoners and soldiers to please the ministers of national security and finance." In a statement on Twitter, he called for "an end to the war and the immediate return of the prisoners to their homes."
In the same context, the head of the Israeli Democratic Party, Yair Golan, considered the decision to occupy all of Gaza to be a "death sentence for the prisoners held by Hamas." He called for the overthrow of Netanyahu's government, describing the prime minister as "weak and subject to pressure from the extremists who control the government," according to a post he made on the X platform.
The plan also faces opposition from Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who warned of the risks to "the lives of prisoners, the depletion of soldiers and reservists, and the damage to Israel's international legitimacy."
The leader of the far-right Shas party, cabinet member and Minister without Portfolio Aryeh Deri, also opposed the bill, describing it as "politically harmful and dangerous for prisoners."
Mobilize near Gaza and avoid the term "occupation"
Meanwhile, satellite images published by the American NBC channel showed the Israeli occupation army amassing troops and equipment near the border with the Gaza Strip, in preparation for an expected large-scale operation. Meanwhile, the New York Times quoted Israeli security officials as saying that complete control of Gaza could take five years of fighting.
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Hebrew media: Israel evades responsibility for occupying Gaza by using the term "control"
In this context, the Security Cabinet avoided using the term "occupation" in its recent decision regarding the Gaza Strip, replacing it with "control," according to Israeli political sources quoted by Yedioth Ahronoth. The sources confirmed that this was intended to evade direct responsibility for protecting Palestinian civilians under international law.
International agreements, such as the Geneva Conventions, warn that recognizing an occupation imposes comprehensive legal obligations on the occupying power toward the civilian population, including providing services, ensuring order, and bearing responsibility for violations. This could open the door to international accountability or prosecution in the International Criminal Court.
Early Friday morning, Netanyahu's office issued a statement claiming that the Israeli occupation army was preparing to occupy the remaining areas of Gaza City. The statement claimed that the cabinet had overwhelmingly approved five principles for ending the war, including "disarming Hamas, returning all prisoners, living and dead, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, establishing security control over it, and establishing an alternative civil administration independent of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority."
Netanyahu presented a "gradual" plan to reoccupy the Gaza Strip during a cabinet meeting Thursday evening, despite opposition from the Israeli military establishment, which warned of the risks to the lives of prisoners and soldiers, according to Hebrew media.
According to the sources, the plan calls for the Israeli occupation army to begin moving into areas it has not previously entered, with the aim of occupying them in the central Gaza Strip and Gaza City. According to the proposal, the plan would begin by displacing Palestinians from Gaza City to the south, followed by encircling the city, and then carrying out additional incursions into population centers.
During the ongoing Israeli operations that began on October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army occupied all of Gaza City except for very small areas, remaining there for several months before withdrawing in April 2024 after announcing the destruction of Hamas's infrastructure in the city.
Among the areas not occupied by Israeli forces on the ground are parts of the city of Deir al-Balah and the camps in the central governorate, despite being subjected to intense aerial and artillery bombardment, according to Palestinian officials. These areas constitute approximately 10-15% of the Gaza Strip's total area, according to media reports.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide left 61,258 Palestinians dead, 152,045 injured, and more than 9,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
