In the early hours of Friday morning, following a lengthy Israeli Security Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the approval of a plan to seize control of Gaza City, the BBC reports.
The cabinet endorsed the plan by a majority vote, which Netanyahu framed around “five principles to end the war.”
According to the statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian assistance to civilians outside combat zones. The five principles include:
- Disarmament of Hamas
- Return of all hostages – both living and deceased
- Demilitarization of the Gaza Strip
- Israeli security control in the Gaza Strip
- Establishment of an alternative civilian government not controlled by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority
The statement also noted that “an absolute majority of cabinet ministers” believe the alternative plan presented would neither achieve Hamas’s defeat nor secure the return of the captives.
