{"id":120208,"date":"2025-08-23T08:06:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T08:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/08\/23\/israeli-pm-pushes-ahead-with-gaza-takeover-plan\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T08:06:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T08:06:20","slug":"israeli-pm-pushes-ahead-with-gaza-takeover-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/israeli-pm-pushes-ahead-with-gaza-takeover-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli PM pushes ahead with Gaza takeover plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEIJING, China, Aug 23 \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to seize full control of Gaza City while allowing negotiations for a truce with Hamas amid protests from more countries against his government\u2019s approval of plans for settlement construction in the West Bank that violate UN resolutions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Netanyahu visited the Gaza Division of the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, to \u201capprove\u201d the planned new military operation, announcing on Thursday a \u201cdecisive stage\u201d in seizing control of Gaza City, despite an announcement by Palestinian militant group Hamas earlier in the week that it has accepted a proposal, via Egypt and Qatari mediators, for a 60-day truce in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came here to approve the IDF plans for taking control of Gaza City and defeating Hamas. In parallel, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and the end of the war, on conditions that are acceptable for Israel,\u201d said Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two things, the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages, go hand in hand,\u201d said Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, said Netanyahu seems \u201cdoes not want the war to end\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnding the war means for him controlling Gaza (and) continuing to annex lands in the West Bank,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Israel Katz, Israel\u2019s defense minister, in a post on social media platform X on Friday, warned of further destruction like Rafah and Beit Hanoun if Israeli wishes were not met.<\/p>\n

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Thursday slamming the Israeli authorities for their \u201cpersistence in their crimes against the Palestinian people and their occupied land as well as their ongoing attempts to displace the people and prevent the establishment of their independent state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Over 20 foreign ministers, including those from Australia, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, also released a joint statement rejecting the Israeli Higher Planning Committee\u2019s approval plans for settlement construction in the \u201cE1\u201d area, east of Jerusalem, in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

A joint investigation by The Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call revealed that figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate that five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians.<\/p>\n

As of May, 19 months into the fighting, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or \u201cprobably dead\u201d, The Guardian reported.<\/p>\n

Apart from the report, a string of frequent condemnations across the world in recent days and appeals against lingering starvation and famine have done little to deter Israel from dropping its controversial takeover plans.<\/p>\n

Famine declared<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, the United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming \u201csystematic obstruction of aid\u201d by Israel, hours after Katz threatened to destroy the territory\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

Israel angrily denied there was a famine, with the foreign ministry saying the report was \u201cbased on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests\u201d.<\/p>\n

The famine was declared by experts at the Rome-based IPC, who said it affected 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.<\/p>\n

The IPC projected that the famine would expand to Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September, covering around two-thirds of Gaza.<\/p>\n

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory \u201cbecause of systematic obstruction by Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said it was \u201ca war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare\u201d and said it \u201cmay also amount to the war crime of willful killing\u201d.<\/p>\n

For more visit China Daily<\/a><\/p>\n

For subscriptions on news from China Daily, or inquiries, please contact China Daily Africa Ltd on +254 733 566 499 or write to enquiries@chinadailyafrica.com<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIJING, China, Aug 23 \u2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing to seize full control of Gaza City while allowing negotiations for a truce with Hamas amid protests from more countries against his government\u2019s approval of plans for settlement construction in the West Bank that violate UN resolutions. Netanyahu visited the Gaza Division of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}