Israel Says It Will Take Control Of Gaza City, Escalating War With Hamas

Australia urged Israel “not to spell down this path,” saying it would “only worsen nan humanitarian catastrophe successful Gaza.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said imperishable forced displacement was a usurpation of world law, and that Australia continued to telephone for a ceasefire, nan return of hostages and nan unimpeded travel of aid.

“A two-state solution is nan only pathway to unafraid an enduring bid — a Palestinian authorities and nan State of Israel, surviving side-by-side successful bid and information wrong internationally-recognized borders,” she said successful a statement.

Australia, wherever tens of thousands of group joined a pro-Palestinian march Sunday connected Sydney Harbour Bridge, is poised to follow Britain, Canada and France successful recognizing Palestinian statehood.

The Associated Press

Jennifer Jett and The Associated Press

Gaza City, which earlier nan warfare was nan largest successful nan enclave, has already been targeted by aggregate Israeli bombings and raids. Much of it has already been destroyed.

Before nan commencement of nan war, Gaza City was location to astir 700,000 people, astir nan organization of Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands of group fled nan metropolis aft being told to evacuate early successful nan war, but galore person returned. It is unclear really galore are surviving location now.

Israel already controls and has mostly destroyed astir 75% of Gaza, pinch astir of nan organization of 2 cardinal Palestinians now sheltering successful Gaza City, nan cardinal metropolis of Deir al-Balah and nan sprawling displacement camps successful nan Muwasi area on nan coast.

An Israeli violative successful Gaza City could displace tens of thousands much group and make it moreover much difficult to present humanitarian aid.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee precocious deferred to Israel’s authorities astir whether to return complete Gaza.

“It’s not our occupation to show them what they should aliases should not do,” Huckabee told CBS News successful an question and reply yesterday. “Certainly, if they inquire for wisdom, counsel, advice, I’m judge nan president would connection it. But ultimately, it’s nan determination that nan Israelis and only nan Israelis tin make.”

Asked astir nan families of hostages who reason an description into Gaza, including 1 family that said it would beryllium a “death sentence,” Huckabee said: “Families person different views of what should beryllium done, what could beryllium done.”

On Monday, officials from Netanyahu’s agency said successful a connection that he had decided to “occupy each of nan Gaza Strip, including areas wherever hostages whitethorn beryllium held.” The scheme announced coming stops short of a afloat occupation.

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Courtney Kube, Katherine Doyle, Monica Alba and Carol E. Lee

Reporting from Washington

Commercial outer images show nan Israeli subject building up troops and instrumentality adjacent nan separator pinch Gaza that would support a imaginable caller crushed penetration of nan Palestinian enclave, according to 3 U.S. officials and a erstwhile charismatic who viewed nan imagery.

The images show unit movements and formations that nan 4 sources recognized arsenic signs of an imminent awesome crushed operation.

Israel’s information Cabinet approved a scheme early Friday to return complete Gaza City, citing Netanyahu’s office. The scheme falls short of nan afloat business of Gaza that Netanyahu had discussed earlier.

If location is simply a caller subject operation, it could see efforts to retrieve hostages held by Hamas and grow humanitarian assistance successful areas extracurricular nan fighting, nan 3 U.S. officials and a personification briefed connected Israeli discussions said. Israeli troops person been conducting crushed operations successful Gaza since Oct. 27, 2023, pinch pauses during 2 ceasefires.

Read nan afloat communicative here.

A shelter campy successful Gaza City is seen from a Jordanian Air Force C-130 level during an airdrop of humanitarian assistance for Palestinians connected nan Gaza Strip connected Thursday.Raad Adayleh / AP

Netanyahu told Fox News earlier Thursday that Israel intends to return power of Gaza but not for nan agelong term.

“We want to person a information perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to beryllium location arsenic a governing body,” he told nan network. “We want to manus it complete to Arab forces that will govern it decently without threatening america and giving Gazans a bully life. That’s not imaginable pinch Hamas.”

Senior Hamas charismatic Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera that “the Israeli business seeks to break nan will of nan Palestinian group done much bloodshed and demolition of homes.” He said “it will fail.”

Read nan afloat communicative here.

Israel said Friday greeting section clip that it plans to return complete Gaza City, escalating its warfare pinch Hamas moreover arsenic it faces increasing world calls to extremity nan 22-month conflict.

Here’s nan afloat connection from Netanyahu’s agency pursuing support of nan plan:

The Security Cabinet has approved nan Prime Minister’s connection for defeating Hamas.

The IDF will hole for taking power of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to nan civilian organization extracurricular nan combat zones.

The Security Cabinet — by mostly ballot — adopted nan 5 principles for concluding nan war:

1. The disarming of Hamas.

2. The return of each nan hostages — nan surviving and nan deceased.

3. The demilitarization of nan Gaza Strip.

4. Israeli information power successful nan Gaza Strip.

5. The constitution of an replacement civilian management that is neither Hamas nor nan Palestinian Authority.

A decisive mostly of Security Cabinet ministers believed that nan replacement scheme that had been submitted to nan Security Cabinet would neither execute nan conclusion of Hamas nor nan return of nan hostages.