Israel Approves Plan to 'Take Control' of Gaza City

Hamas Warns That Doing So Would Amount to Sacrificing Hostages Still Being Held There

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JERUSALEM - Israel's security Cabinet has approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to "take control" of Gaza City, his office said on Aug 8.

Under the plan to "defeat" Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the army "will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones", it added.

Hamas warned the Israeli government on Aug 8 that seizing control of Gaza City would amount to "sacrificing" the hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory.

"The decision to occupy Gaza confirms that the criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi government do not care about the fate of their captives," the group said in a statement. "They understand that expanding the aggression means sacrificing them."

Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a truce to pull the Palestinian territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and to spare hostages held by Palestinian militants.

As he convened his security Cabinet on Aug 7, Mr Netanyahu said Israel planned to take full control of Gaza but did not intend to govern it.

Ahead of the meeting, he told US network Fox News that the government intended to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, where the military has been fighting Hamas since the Palestinian group's Oct 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

He added that Israel did not want "to keep" the Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005.