Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take over Gaza City, in a major escalation of the country's war in Gaza, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
The decision on Friday marked another escalation of Israel's 22-month military offensive launched in response to Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack.
A statement from Mr Netanyahu's office also announced that the government had approved "five principles for ending the war", including the disarmament of the terror organisation Hamas, the return of Israeli hostages — living and dead — from Gaza, the demilitarisation of the strip under Israeli security control and the formation of an "alternative civilian government".
"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," the statement said.
"An absolute majority of Cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan presented to the Cabinet would not achieve the defeat of Hamas or the return of the abductees."
Mr Netanyahu's office has not confirmed when an increased military assault would begin in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
No further details have been announced, but it likely means the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will move troops into Gaza City and potentially expand into other unoccupied areas, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled to.
The decision also came after Mr Netanyahu earlier told the US's Fox News that Israel had intended to take military control of Gaza and hand it over to "Arab forces" to govern.
Those comments were made moments before the prime minister was set to meet members of his security cabinet to discuss the plans for a military takeover of Gaza.
When asked if Israel wanted to take control of all of the 42-kilometre strip, he said: "We intend to."
In the interview, he added that Israel had no intention of governing Gaza, and instead wanted a "security perimeter".
"We don't want to keep it," he said. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body."
"We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That's not possible with Hamas," he added.
The security cabinet session followed a meeting earlier this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials have described as tense, saying the military chief had pushed back on expanding the campaign.
In a statement, Hamas labelled Mr Netanyahu's comments "a blatant coup" against the negotiation process towards a ceasefire.
"Netanyahu's plans to expand the aggression confirm beyond any doubt that he seeks to get rid of his captives and sacrifice them," the statement said.
Mr Netanyahu did not elaborate on the governance arrangements or which Arab countries could be involved.
But a Jordanian official, in the first reaction by a main Arab neighbour to Netanyahu's comments, said: "Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu's policies nor clean his mess."
The source told Reuters that Arabs "will only support what Palestinians agree and decide on".
"Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions," the official said.
In Australia, immediately after the Israeli security cabinet decision, Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged the Netanyahu government to abandon plans to occupy Gaza City and said doing so would be a violation of international law.
"Australia calls on Israel to not go down this path, which will only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," she said in a statement.
"Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international law.
"With international partners, Australia maintains our call for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and aid to flow unimpeded.
"A two-state solution is the only pathway to secure an enduring peace — a Palestinian state and the State of Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security within internationally-recognised borders."
'Breaks you': Gazans react
News of the Netanyahu proposal to occupy Gaza quickly spread through the bombed-out streets of the strip, even before the security cabinet meeting got underway.
It stoked fear throughout a war-weary community, deeply struggling with the toll of 22 months of war.
"I live in a tent, dumped in the street, but the upcoming situation is going to be worse because of what they are capable of implementing," 35-year-old Jaber Abu Odeh told the ABC.
He is originally from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, but had been forced to relocate to the central areas of the strip.
"The US is with them, the West is with them, and the world is with them," he said.
"They have fighter jets from above and an army from below, and from all directions."
Adel Shomali, 40, said the prospect of being forced to move again "breaks you".
"It's enough the displacement from the beginning of the war until the last ceasefire, and we were displaced from Gaza City to the South and then back to Gaza City," he said.
"There is fear from this situation, God willing, it won't happen.
"The fear this time is that it will become worse, and if there are new incursions, there will be more destruction."
Protesters block streets
In Jerusalem, hundreds blocked the streets outside the Prime Minister's Office in the heart of the city to protest against the expansion of the war in Gaza.
Armed with drums, whistles and horns, the crowd tried to make their voices heard as the security cabinet met inside the compound.
"We can't accept it, it does not represent me or the other people here, all that this government is doing," protester Michal Goren told the ABC.
"It's so sad, and I'm so afraid that they will take Gaza, and all the hostages will die — it's very sad, this situation."
Fellow protester Nadav Hellman said the prime minister was not listening to the community.
"I'm worried about the 50 people that are right now dying in the tunnels," he said.
"The reason for this war is for the survival of the Netanyahu coalition.
"If they make this decision, what will happen is more soldiers, young men, will die, and the people in the tunnels will also die.
"Netanyahu is a terrible person, in my opinion."
UN says possible expansion 'deeply alarming'
Mr Netanyahu's government has faced international condemnation and growing domestic pressure to find an off-ramp to the conflict in Gaza.
[EXTERNAL LINK: Israel map]Within Israel, Mr Netanyahu's desire for a full military occupation of Gaza has faced criticism from both senior figures in the military, as well as from the families of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
It has been reported the prime minister is also seeking approval from the security cabinet for military operations in densely populated areas where hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023 are believed to be held.
Israel at present controls 75 per cent of Gaza. The United Nations has called reports about a possible expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza "deeply alarming" if true.
Full control would also leave Israel obliged by international law to provide security and ensure the basic needs of the population are met.
Israel's internal split over plans
The ranks of the Israel Defense Forces have been struggling with burnout and fatigue as the conflict in Gaza approaches the two-year mark.
Family members of some of the Israeli hostages have set sail from Israel towards Gaza's maritime border, broadcasting their accusations via loudspeakers that Mr Netanyahu is seeking to prolong the war to satisfy far-right members of his governing coalition.
Meanwhile, the Hostages Families Forum, which represents captives held in Gaza, has urged military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to oppose widening the war, and the government to accept a deal that would bring the war to an end and free the remaining hostages.
But far-right members of Mr Netanyahu's coalition government appear to be pushing for the full takeover.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters on Wednesday that he hoped the government would approve the military taking control over the rest of Gaza at Thursday's meeting.
The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw another 251 hostages taken to Gaza.
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's assault on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which said 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
Israel rejects those figures from the Gaza health ministry but does not publish its own, and does not allow foreign news organisations including the ABC access to Gaza to report freely.
ABC/wires
