Israel approves “the conquest of Gaza”; Zamir warns the risk of “losing” hostages

Israel approved on Sunday evening a plan aimed at considerably expanding the military operation against the Palestinian terrorist group of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, even though the head of the Israeli army would have warned the ministers that this could endanger the hostages detained in the enclave. The plan provides for the “conquest of Gaza” and the maintenance of control over the territory, an Israeli official said on Monday morning.

The security firm unanimously approved the plan to extend the operation to Gaza, added the manager. This plan should only be implemented after the visit of American president Donald Trump in the region next week. Until then, the efforts will continue to achieve a cease-fire agreement and the hostage release with Hamas, the Israeli media reported.

This plan, which was presented Monday by the chief of staff of Tsahal, the lieutenant-general Eyal Zamir, provides for the “conquest of Gaza and the maintenance of control of the territories”. According to the official, the army will take control of the Gaza territory, will move the civilian population to the south, attack Hamas and prevent the terrorist group from seizing humanitarian aid.

This plan is progressive and focuses initially on a specific, unspecified area of ​​the Gaza Strip, before being extended to other places, the Kan public channel reported on Sunday, adding that intense fighting should continue for several months.

In addition, according to the Israeli official, the security firm has approved a proposal aimed at renewing the deliveries of assistance to Gaza while revising the mechanism in order to minimize the embezzlement of goods by Hamas for the benefit of its terrorists. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, was the only one to vote against this proposal, the implementation of which will depend on the evolution of the situation in Gaza.

The humanitarian aid project, reported for the first time by the Times of Israel On Friday, the Israeli army is predicting the large -scale distribution and storage of humanitarian aid and entrusts this task to international organizations and private security companies, which will distribute food packages to Gaza families.

According to Israeli and Arab officials to this file, TSAhal is not directly involved in the distribution of aid, but the soldiers are responsible for ensuring the external security of private entrepreneurs, while international organizations will take care of distributing aid. Israel believes that this method will complicate the task of Hamas to divert aid for the benefit of its terrorists.

The “risk of losing” hostages

Divergences of opinion persisted within the Israeli management concerning the intensification of the offensive on Gaza.

The thirteenth chain reported on Sunday evening that the chief of staff Zamir had warned the ministers in recent days that Israel “was likely to lose” the hostages in Gaza if he launched a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza terrorists hold 59 hostages, at least 35 of which were confirmed dead. They were one of the 251 people kidnapped on October 7, 2023, when Hamas directed more than 5,000 terrorists to the southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and triggering war.

“As part of a large -scale operation plan, we will not necessarily manage to reach hostages,” said Zamir at a meeting, according to the chain.

“Keep in mind that we could lose them. »»

Zamir would also have said that the two objectives of the war, namely to defeat Hamas and save the hostages, “constitute a paradox”.

The hostage families have supported this thesis for a long time, but political leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insisted that military pressure would make it possible to conclude an agreement for the return of hostages.

The thirteenth chain reported that the ministers had not been influenced by Zamir’s statements and that the army was likely to intensify its operations in Gaza in the near future.

The Families of the Otages and Disappeared Families reacted to the report: “The warning of the chief of staff should cause sleep to all the Israelis. An overwhelming majority of the nation is united around the conviction that an Israeli victory cannot be obtained without the return of hostages. Losing the hostages would mean a defeat for Israel. National security and social stability depend on the return of all hostages, to the last. »»

Increase pressure on Hamas

At the same time, an Israeli source said on Sunday at Times of Israel that Israel had no hope that Hamas accepts its proposals for ceasefire and the release of hostages without considerably strengthened military pressure.

Netanyahu emphasizes his speech on the objective of destroying Hamas and less on that of releaseing hostages, as part of this pressure campaign, added the source, stressing that the war objectives had not changed.

Netanyahu provoked the anger of the hostage families on Thursday when he said that, although the return of hostages is “very important”, “the supreme objective” of the war was victory.

Tsahal then probably contradicted Netanyahu, saying that the return of the hostages was the “supreme mission”.

In addition, during a visit Sunday at the Shayetet 13 commando unit of the navy, Zamir publicly resumed the current message of the government, declaring that the army intensified its pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

“This week, we send tens of thousands of mobilization order to our reservists in order to intensify and extend our action in Gaza. We increase the pressure to obtain the release of our nationals [pris en otage] And defeat Hamas, ”said Zamir in remarks published by Tsahal.

He added that the army “would operate in other areas and would destroy all infrastructure [du Hamas]whether on the surface or underground ”.

Netanyahu also declared in video speech that the objective of the military operation in Gaza was “to defeat Hamas”.

In a video published on his account of the social network X Personal before the meeting of the cabinet, Netanyahu said that the plan included several phases and that the cabinet focused on two missions: “First, bringing our hostages. Second, overcome Hamas. Hamas will no longer be there, you have to understand it. During a speech delivered last week, he indicated that the priority was to defeat Hamas, then bring the hostages back.

“In a war, we make a decision: victory,” he added by tapping the table. Netanyahu rejects the idea that he was leading this war for political reasons, claiming that the refusal to leave Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group of Hezbollah staying at the borders of Israel is not a political question.

The Prime Minister stressed that calls not to obey the mobilization orders encouraged Hamas while his government does everything to exempt the Haredim.

“We will win a total victory in Gaza,” he said.

“Victory will bring back the hostages. »»

Hamas announces the restoration of its internal security forces

Also on Sunday, the Palestinian news agency Safa reported that the Interior Ministry of the Palestinian Terrorist Group of Hamas had restored a unit called “Executive Force”, responsible for restoring order in the Gaza Strip.

This force was initially created in 2006, when Hamas was part of the Government of the Palestinian Authority (AP). It then operated under the aegis of the AP security structures.

After the wild control of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, after a bloody coup, the AP had declared this illegal force, pushing the Palestinian terrorist group to dismantle it.

According to this article, around 5,000 Hamas terrorists have been integrated into the newly restored force, which is responsible for “restoring order and stability, as well as fighting thieves’ gangs and Israel collaborators”.

Although Hamas has not officially confirmed this information, a media affiliated to the terrorist group relayed Safa’s article.

In recent days, information from Gaza has reported an increase in flight and looting incidents. The worsening of the food shortage in the Gaza Strip, which enters its third month under the regime of a total blockage of humanitarian aid by Israel, is probably one of the factors that contribute to this situation.