Israeli Cabinet approves Netanyahu’s plan for Gaza City occupation

The Israeli Security Cabinet early on Friday approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take military control of Gaza City and to disarm Palestinian militant organization Hamas, according to a statement by Netanyahu’s office.

The statement said that the Cabinet approved a takeover by the Israeli military of Gaza City, in the north of the territory, while providing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones.

Netanyahu’s office said the Cabinet approved a plan by the premier which would see the disarmament of Hamas, the return of hostages to Israel, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and “Israeli security control” over the territory in exchange for an end to the war, which has been raging for over 22 months.

The plan also requires that the territory be ruled by an “alternative civilian government that is not Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.”

The plan did not specify whether Israel would be seeking to take over the entire Gaza Strip, which Netanyahu had said on Thursday was part of his plan.

On Thursday, Netanyahu told US broadcaster Fox News: “We intend to, in order to ensure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.”

“That’s what we want to do,” Netanyahu said in an excerpt of the interview. “We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas.”

The approval of the plan came after a Security Cabinet meeting lasting more than 10 hours and ending on Friday morning.

Israel is estimated to currently control around 75% of the largely destroyed territory, which is home to roughly 2 million Palestinians.

A full occupation could take the Israeli military up to six months to complete, Israeli media have reported.