Overview
- The Security Cabinet voted early Friday to prepare a ground operation for full control of Gaza City, overriding top IDF leaders’ recommendations.
- Ministers codified five end-of-war principles mandating Hamas’s disarmament, hostage returns, Gaza’s demilitarisation, Israeli security control and a civilian government excluding Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
- Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior officers argued that exhausted troops and resource shortages make urban combat in Gaza City highly risky.
- Britain, Australia, Italy and New Zealand joined Germany in denouncing the plan as a violation of international humanitarian law, and Berlin has suspended arms exports until further notice.
- UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned the expansion risks mass displacement, increased civilian suffering and potential atrocity crimes.