Netanyahu considers full Gaza takeover, Israeli media says, as more Palestinians die of hunger
Mediation between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has collapsed despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Eight more people died of starvation or malnutrition in the past 24 hours, Gaza's Health Ministry said, while another 79 died in the latest Israeli attacks.
Netanyahu was to meet Defence Minister Israel Katz and military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to decide on a strategy to take to cabinet later this week, an Israeli official told Reuters. Strategic Affairs Minister Rob Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu, would also be present.
According to reports from The Jerusalem Post, Channel 12 and Ynetnews, the prime minister was leaning toward taking control of the entire territory.
That would reverse a 2005 decision 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.
WATCH | Israel's security cabinet to meet this week to outline next steps:
It was unclear, however, whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged occupation or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Channel 12 report.
A Palestinian official said it may be a tactic to pressure Hamas into concessions, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged foreign nations to take heed of the reports.
"The ministry urges countries and the international community to treat these leaks with utmost seriousness and to intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether these leaks are meant to exert pressure, test international reactions, or are genuine and serious," it said.
Strained military
Israel's coalition government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, includes far-right politicians who advocate for the annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank and encourage Palestinians to leave their homeland.
Nearly two years of fighting in Gaza has strained the military, which has a small standing army and has had to repeatedly mobilize reservists. It has throughout the war pushed back against the idea of Israel fully occupying Gaza and establishing military rule.
In a sign of differences between some members of Israel's ruling coalition and the military, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on X challenged military head Zamir to state he would comply with government directives even if a decision was made to take all of Gaza.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar then said the military chief must give his professional opinion, while Katz weighed in to say the military would professionally implement whatever policy the government set.
"Defeating Hamas in Gaza, while creating the conditions for the return of the hostages, are the central goals of the war in Gaza, and we must take all necessary actions to achieve them," Katz said.
The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing 251 hostages, taking them into Gaza.
Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people — mostly civilians — according to Palestinian health authorities.
Former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs — including those who led Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, Mossad spy agency and the Israeli military — called for an end to the war in Gaza this week. In a roughly three-minute video posted to social media on Sunday, they demanded an end to the war and said the far-right members of the government are holding the country "hostage" in prolonging the conflict.
"This is leading the state of Israel to the loss of its security and its identity," Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, said in the footage.
At least 188 hunger-related deaths
Israel's campaign has forced nearly all of Gaza's more than two million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine.
Some 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger since the war began, according to Gaza authorities.
An Israeli security official, in a briefing to reporters, acknowledged there may be hunger in some parts of Gaza but rejected reports of famine or starvation.
International anger at the suffering in Gaza has prompted several countries to recognize or announce their intention to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
On Tuesday, Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza, but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive.
Palestinians living in the last quarter of territory where Israel has not yet taken military control — via ground incursions or orders for civilians to leave — said any new push would be catastrophic.
"If the tanks pushed through, where would we go, into the sea? This will be like a death sentence to the entire population," said Abu Jehad, a Gaza wood merchant.
The failed mediation in Doha, Qatar, had aimed to clinch agreements on a U.S.-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 in Israel.
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Winnipeg Free Press
6 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Israel says Hamas is starving hostages; Security Council members say Israel is starving Palestinians
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Calgary Herald
3 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Israel poised to order new Gaza war plan
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CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Hunger-striking women demand Israel return the body of Palestinian activist killed in settler clash
Sara Hathaleen and Myassar Hathaleen, two of dozens of Bedouin women on a hunger strike demanding that Israel return the body of a Palestinian activist killed during a clash with a Jewish settler, are seen in Umm al-Khair, West Bank, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Frankel) UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank — Nearly two dozen Bedouin women, enrobed in black, sat on the floor of a modest hut that baked under the desert sun of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The room was quiet, the women still. The women are on a hunger strike to call for Israeli authorities to release the body of a beloved community leader killed during a clash with a Jewish settler last week. They say they will continue until the man's remains are returned for burial in his hometown of Umm al-Khair. Witnesses said Awdah Al Hathaleen was shot and killed by a radical Israeli settler during a confrontation caught on video. Israeli authorities said they would only return the body if the family agrees to certain conditions that would 'prevent public disorder.' The villagers say those include limiting attendance for a funeral that would normally draw hundreds and burying him at night in a nearby city. 'We want him to be buried here in Umm al-Khair and have a respectable funeral without any conditions. What did we do to deserve this treatment? We did nothing,' said his mother, Khadra Hathaleen, 65, who is among the dozens of women, aged 15-70, from the village who are on strike. The hunger strike, in its sixth day Tuesday, marks a rare public protest by a group of Bedouin women accustomed to mourning in private. Their move reflects their anger over Awdah's death as well as what they perceive as Israel's attempt to dictate unreasonable conditions that violate their customs, beliefs, and right to the land beneath them. But beyond that, they say they have been forced to speak up after repeated settler attacks and Israeli raids have targeted their husbands, sons and fathers. Adding to their outrage, the settler suspected in the shooting, Yinon Levi, was quickly released by an Israeli court from his house arrest. Their story won an Oscar, but their suffering continues The plight of Palestinians in this area of the West Bank, known as Masafer Yatta, was featured in 'No Other Land,' an Oscar-winning documentary about settler violence and life under Israeli military rule. Al Hathaleen, a political activist and an English teacher, was a contributor to the film and close friend of its Palestinian co-directors. It documents life in a region where Jewish residents are building new settlements and expanding old ones on hilltops ringing Palestinian villages — all while Israeli military bulldozers arrive frequently to demolish Palestinian homes they say amount to illegal construction. Palestinians say its nearly impossible to secure Israeli permits to build on their lands. Four Palestinians have been killed by settlers this year, according to UN data. Witnesses said that the confrontation that led to Al Hathaleen's death began after settler excavators began digging on village land. Some Palestinians threw stones after one excavator injured a young man from the village, witnesses said. The Israeli military said that during the confrontation Palestinians hurled rocks at an Israeli civilian, who opened fire toward the 'terrorists.' Levi, a well known settler who is under international sanctions for violence toward Palestinians, was briefly arrested last week. He was quickly freed from house arrest, with a judge ruling there was no proof that Levi fired the fatal bullets. Video shot by a Palestinian witness showed Levi firing a gun twice and tussling with a group of unarmed Palestinians. In the footage, Levi accused the group of throwing rocks at him. It did not show where his shots landed. But residents said that he fired the bullet that hit Al Hathaleen in the chest, and that no one else in the encounter was armed. Israeli military and police did not respond to requests for comment on who else could have fired the fatal shot. Levi could not be reached for comment; multiple calls to his phone went unanswered. Since the killing, Israeli forces returned to the village and arrested 18 men. Villagers said at least one remains in jail — the hunger strikers are also demanding his release. A feeling of complete vulnerability On Monday, a week after Al Hathaleen was killed, Levi was back within eyesight of the village, the sound of his excavators pummeling the ground audible from the hut where the hunger-striking women sat. To Sara Hathaleen, it was a reminder of the village's vulnerability. 'They come at 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock in the morning,' said the 39-year-old, who is Al Hathaleen's sister-in-law. 'It's like a horror, because we hear their cars and we know that they are coming for us. We don't know who will be next, or who they will take next.' Most of Umm al-Khair's residents are related — some closely, some distantly — and nearly all share the surname Hathaleen. Al Hathaleen and his wife use an alternate spelling. Sara Hathaleen said her own husband, Aziz, was detained by Israel after the killing and released Tuesday. 'We want to have a voice and to take part,' she said. 'The men are hurt by settlers or taken by the army, put in prison, and are not available.' Three of the women on strike — Al Hathaleen's mother, sister and widow — have needed medical attention, according to Sara Hathaleen. Israeli military and police did not respond to requests for comment on the strike. Demanding to be heard Myassar Hathaleen, 32, sat in the fasting hut with the other women. Since she stopped eating, her breast milk has dried up and she wakes at night to her infant crying to be breastfed. Her brother, Hamid, was arrested the day Al Hathaleen was killed and he has not yet been released. 'We're striking because the world needs to wake up,' said Myassar. 'We don't want to make any problems. We just want to live in justice, and in silence.' Hanady Al Hathaleen, 24, said that she will settle for nothing less than a proper burial for her husband in his hometown. 'Awdah was killed here because he was resistant, in his own way,' she said. 'He was killed here and he must be buried here. The land of Umm al-Khair drinks from his blood.' Julia Frankel, The Associated Press
