Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Israel's security cabinet overnight Thursday approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to take control of Gaza, despite staunch opposition, including from his own military, which warns that an increased offensive in the Palestinian enclave could endanger the lives of Israeli hostages.
The prime minister's office described the plan early Friday as aimed at defeating Hamas, one of Israel's objectives in its nearly two-year-old war against the Iran-backed militia.
"The IDF will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
The five principles of the plan approved include disarming Hamas, returning all hostages to Israel, demilitarizing Gaza, gaining security control of Gaza and establishing a civil administration that is neither Hamas, which governed the enclave for nearly two decades, nor the Palestinian Authority, which oversees partial control of the Israel-occupied West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces reportedly already control 75% of Gaza, with the remaining 25% mostly being Gaza City and the surrounding area where the majority of the roughly 2 million Palestinians now live. It is also believed that this is where the remaining 48 Israeli hostages are being kept. Not all are believed to be alive.
