Overview

• The Cabinet adopted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s five-point strategy to disarm Hamas, demilitarize Gaza, secure a perimeter, recover remaining hostages and establish an alternative civilian administration
• The Israel Defense Forces will prepare to occupy Gaza City in phases while coordinating humanitarian aid deliveries outside active combat areas
• IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior officers oppose a full takeover, warning it could endanger about 20 hostages and strain military resources
• United Nations officials, led by Miroslav Jenca, cautioned that expanding military control could have catastrophic effects on civilians and further jeopardize hostage safety
• The operation raises the risk of displacing up to one million Gazans southward into overcrowded zones like al-Mawasi, worsening an already dire humanitarian emergency