Israeli cabinet may order complete Gaza takeover
military takeover
of
Gaza
for the first time in two decades, media reported.
The move would come despite international pressure for a ceasefire to ease appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Prime minister
Binyamin Netanyahu
is leaning towards an expanded offensive and taking control of the entire enclave after 22 months of war against Hamas, Israeli Channel 12 reported.
A senior Israeli source told Reuters on Monday that more force was an option following the collapse of indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas.
READ MORE
Seizing the entire territory would reverse a 2005 decision by Israel to pull settlers and military out of Gaza while retaining control over its borders – a move right-wing parties blame for Hamas gaining power there.
It was unclear, however, whether a potential full takeover of Gaza would entail a prolonged occupation or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing hostages.
[
Gaza is also a war on the human instinct for compassion
Opens in new window
]
The Israeli military was expected on Tuesday to present alternatives that include extending into areas of Gaza where it has not yet operated, according to two defence officials.
Israel's coalition government is regarded as one of the most right-wing in its history, with the cabinet including parties that seek to annex both Gaza and the West Bank and encourage Palestinians to leave their homeland.
The country's military has throughout the war pushed back against the idea of Israel trying to fully occupy Gaza and establish military rule there, which would require it to take over long-term governance.
The military has also struggled with manpower issues as the war has dragged on, with reservists being repeatedly called up and putting a strain on capabilities.
The conflict was triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023, when gunmen stormed the border from Gaza, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's military campaign has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 60,000 people according to Palestinian health authorities. It has forced nearly all of Gaza's over two million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine.
That has caused widespread international anger and prompted several European countries to say they would recognise a Palestinian state next month if there was no ceasefire.
Inside Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians, local health authorities said, including five people in a tent in Khan Younis and three aid seekers near Rafah in the south.
Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza earlier on Tuesday but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive.
Palestinians living in the last fifth of the territory where Israel has not yet taken military control via ground incursions or orders for civilians to leave said any new move to occupy the area would be catastrophic.
A Palestinian official close to the talks and mediation said Israeli threats could be a way to pressure Hamas to make concessions at the negotiation table.
'It will only complicate the negotiation further, at the end, the resistance factions will not accept less than an end to the war, and a full withdrawal from Gaza,' he told Reuters.
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said last week he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
But Israeli officials have also floated ideas including expanding the offensive and annexing parts of Gaza.
The failed ceasefire talks in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. – Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Hezbollah threatens to resume firing at Israel if it intensifies Lebanon action
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah warned on Tuesday that if Israel intensifies its military operations against his group, the Iran-backed armed faction will resume firing missiles toward Israel. Naim Kassem's comments came as Lebanon's Cabinet was meeting to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament. Beirut is under US pressure to disarm the group that recently fought a 14-month war with Israel and was left gravely weakened, with many of its political and military leaders dead. Since the war ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes that have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members. Israel's interest is not to widen the aggression because if they expand, the resistance will defend, the army will defend and the people will defend. This defence will lead to the fall of missiles inside Israel Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Israel's military has said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis were displaced during the war. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for one attack on a disputed area along the border. In a televised speech on Tuesday, Kassem said Hezbollah rejects any timetable to hand over its weapons. 'Israel's interest is not to widen the aggression because if they expand, the resistance will defend, the army will defend and the people will defend,' he said. 'This defence will lead to the fall of missiles inside Israel.' Since the war ended, Hezbollah has withdrawn most of its fighters and weapons from the area along the border with Israel south of the Litani river. Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated calls for Hezbollah to give up its weapons, angering the group's leadership. The ceasefire agreement left vague how Hezbollah's weapons and military facilities north of the Litani river should be treated, saying Lebanese authorities should dismantle unauthorised facilities starting with the area south of the river. Hezbollah maintains the deal covers only the area south of the Litani, while Israel and the US say it mandates disarmament of the group throughout Lebanon. Kassem said Hezbollah rejects a government vote over its weapons, saying such a decision should be unanimously backed by all Lebanese. 'No one can deprive Lebanon of its force to protect its sovereignty,' Kassem said. Hezbollah's weapons are a divisive issue among Lebanese, with some groups calling for its disarmament. The Israel-Hezbollah war started a day after the October 7 2023 Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza. It left more than 4,000 people dead and caused 11 billion dollars (£8.3 billion) of damage.
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Irish Times
Russia issues missile warning to West ahead of US deadline for Ukraine ceasefire
The Kremlin has said it is no longer bound by any constraints on deploying short- and intermediate-range missiles near European Union and Nato states, as nuclear sabre-rattling escalated before a US deadline for Moscow to halt fighting with Ukraine . US president Donald Trump has threatened to impose 'severe' tariffs on imports from Russia and from countries – including China and India – that buy Moscow's oil, unless the Kremlin agrees to a ceasefire by Friday. Envoys for Mr Trump are expected in Moscow and Kyiv this week – Russian state media say Steve Witkoff will arrive on Wednesday, and Keith Kellogg is set to visit Ukraine – amid sharpening rhetoric between the White House and the Kremlin. After former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned that Mr Trump's 'ultimatum game' was stoking the risk of war between their countries, the US leader said last Friday that he was moving two nuclear-powered submarines to 'appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that'. READ MORE On the same day, Russia said it had started regular production of a new nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik, and would deploy it this year in neighbouring Belarus, which borders Ukraine and EU and Nato members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Tuesday that Moscow now felt free to deploy short- and mid-range missiles wherever it liked, in response to what it claims are US plans to deploy such missiles in areas of Europe and Asia that would threaten Russia. [ Opinion: Trump's threats against Russia are a charade meant to buy Putin time Opens in new window ] 'Russia no longer has any constraints in this regard. Russia no longer considers itself to be limited in any way. Russia considers itself to have the right, if necessary, to take appropriate measures,' he said. During Mr Trump's first term as president in 2019, the US withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which banned missiles with a range of 500-5,500km. Russia denied US claims at the time that it was secretly developing such weapons, but said it would not deploy anything that had been banned under the INF for as long as the US and its allies did the same. 'Our repeated warnings on this account have been ignored, and US-made ground-based INF systems are being deployed in Europe and the Asia-Pacific,' the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday. 'In this regard, [Russia] states that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar systems have ceased to exist. We are authorised to declare that the Russian Federation no longer considers itself bound by the previously adopted self-imposed restrictions.' Moscow claimed that some versions of the US-made Himars rocket system – which Ukraine uses to powerful effect against Russia's invasion force – could fire further than 500km and so fall 'into the category of ground-launched INF-range missile systems'. Mr Trump reiterated on Tuesday that he would raise tariffs on India 'very substantially' due to what he considers to be New Delhi's unfair trade rules and because it is 'fuelling the war machine' by buying Russian oil. [ The Irish Times view on Trump and Putin: the dangerous nuclear backdrop Opens in new window ] He also claimed that lower world energy prices would force Russian president Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine. 'If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people,' Mr Trump told US television. 'If you get energy down, another $10 a barrel, he's going to have no choice because his economy stinks.' Mr Peskov said US threats to impose financial penalties on Russia's trading partners were 'illegal'. Sweden, Norway and Denmark announced that they would contribute about $500 million (€433 million) to a new plan for Nato members in Europe to buy US arms for Ukraine. The Netherlands said on Monday it would put €500 million into the scheme.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Lobby other EU countries to allow Irish Central Bank to drop Israeli war bonds, TDs recommend
An Oireachtas committee has recommended the Government lobby other EU states to change rules that stop the Irish Central Bank from refusing to act as a competent authority in Europe for Israeli war bonds. Third-country issuers, such as Israel, can choose any EU state as their home member state and competent authority. That authority reviews its bond prospectus and, in this case, authorises Israel to sell bonds in the EU market. Before 2021, the UK was the EU home member state under the regulation for the state of Israel. Ireland was chosen as the new home member state following the UK's departure from the EU after Brexit in 2016. Politicians from all parties have expressed concern that Ireland is the competent authority that gives authority to Israel to sell bonds in the EU market, including what Israel markets as 'war bonds'. However, the committee has been told by the Central Bank that it is powerless to refuse to act as the competent authority under current rules. The rules and criteria that determine approval of the prospectus do not cover Israel's continuing military activities in Gaza , but rather include risk rules based on financial and fiscal criteria. The governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, told the Oireachtas Committee on Finance in June that Ireland had no power to unilaterally remove itself from being the competent authority. Any decision to change that situation, he said, would be made by the third country, in this case Israel, and by that third country alone. The committee, chaired by Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell , published a report on Tuesday, the main recommendation of which was that the Government engage at EU level with a 'view to amending the EU Prospectus regulations to permit each individual European Central Bank to refuse to act as a Competent Authority'. It has also recommended that the Central Bank conduct an immediate internal review in advance of any renewal in September of the Israeli bond prospectus. It said that review should determine whether it is in compliance with the levels of disclosure, accuracy and transparency required by the EU Prospectus. At the meeting in June, committee members expressed concern that the continuing destruction and deaths in Gaza were not being taken into consideration in determining the right of Israel to sell bonds, which several committee members pointed out were being openly marketed as 'war bonds'. The report states: 'In response to questions around whether enhanced scrutiny is applied to sovereign bond issuers involved in armed conflict or under international investigation, representatives of the Central Bank told the Committee that a judgement is made as to whether a prospectus is particularly complex and if there are issues that are challenging to articulate. 'Ultimately, however, the judgement rests on whether the disclosure is appropriate to the financial risk.' At the meeting, members expressed concern with regard to both the exposure of the EU financially to Israel and the current situation in Israel. 'Members further described the prospectus regulatory regime as 'narrow and arguably amoral ... Jesuitical in the way that it is interpreted and applied, which is mindful of only its basic, legalistic obligations in satisfying the regulatory framework in place', the report stated. Amid cross-party opposition to the Central Bank continuing in that role, the committee has also recommended that any future review of its role as the competent authority by the regulator should take into account the nature of the case taken by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention and the interim findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in that regard. It also said the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories should also be taken into account.
