Overview

• The Israeli security cabinet authorized an IDF operation to seize Gaza City with the goal of dismantling Hamas, demilitarizing the enclave and installing a non-Israeli civilian administration.
• The strategy calls for relocating over one million Gaza residents to southern zones and confines humanitarian aid to protected corridors outside active combat areas.
• Tens of thousands of Israelis, including families of hostages, demonstrated in Tel Aviv against the offensive, arguing it could endanger captives still held by Hamas.
• Far-right coalition ministers denounced the plan as too weak while some senior military figures have privately raised concerns about risks to both hostages and soldiers.
• The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting and Western allies sharply condemned the move—Germany suspended certain arms exports—and military estimates project a four- to six-month campaign requiring extensive reserve mobilization.