Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his plan to seize control of Gaza City and the remaining sliver of Gaza not already under Israeli control will involve displacing the population and taking control of the entire Gaza Strip.
His comments in a press conference in Jerusalem come despite tens of thousands of Israelis protesting the plan, which was approved by Israel's Security Cabinet early Friday. The plan will require calling up large numbers of reservists, many of whom have already done previous rounds in the war.
The families of hostages held in Gaza are also denouncing the move, demanding Netanyahu's government strike a ceasefire deal with Hamas that frees the 50 or so hostages still held by militants, around 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Netanyahu, however, doubled down on the plan.
"Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war and the best way to end it speedily," he said in his first public comments since Israel's Security Cabinet approved the plan.
The plan involves mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Netanyahu said around 75% of Gaza is already under Israeli military control, and said Gaza City and central areas of the territory would be cleared of civilians. He said Israel will do so by enabling people "to safely leave the combat areas to designated safe zones."
He said that there they would be given "ample food, water and medical care." He did not say how Gaza's population of 2 million people would be moved to these areas safely, where these zones would be, if they would be encircled by Israeli troops or any other details on the plan.
Israel is facing international criticism for the starvation in Gaza and what U.N.-backed experts say is an unfolding famine. People in Gaza City say there's little reason for them to leave, and be displaced to the south of the territory again.
"I will end up on the street or in a tent. No, I'd rather die here more dignified than dying on the street," said Saady Barakat, a 60-year-old resident of Gaza City, who like others who spoke with NPR said they have no means or plans to flee. In past displacement orders throughout the war, Israel has forcibly shut down hospitals and drastically restricted food in what critics described as a "starve or leave" policy.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, also laid out Israel's long-term plan for the future of Gaza, reiterating points agreed by the Security Cabinet, which included the establishment of a "non-Israeli peaceful civil administration" in Gaza run neither by Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, and Israel having "overriding security responsibility" for the entire territory.
"Our goal is not to occupy Gaza," the prime minister said. "Our goal is to free Gaza, free it from Hamas terrorists."
But he acknowledged that not everyone in his far-right governing coalition agrees with this. There are ministers who are calling for him to annex Gaza, halt all aid into the territory and permanently displace its population.
He spoke to reporters as he stood before pictures of famished children in Gaza with the words "fake" on them, claiming there was no starvation and that such reports are "malignant lies." NPR's own reporting, experts on famine and visiting physicians on the ground have all confirmed severe malnutrition and starvation among the population.
Also Sunday, the U.N. Security Council was meeting to discuss Israel's new offensive in Gaza, which has been condemned by a number of world leaders from the Arab world to Europe.
"This is not a path to resolution," said James Kariuki, the U.K. deputy permanent representative to the U.N. "It is a path to more bloodshed."
The head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, questioned how people are expected to survive in Gaza under current conditions.
"The humanitarian system has effectively collapsed," he said. "Hospitals are not protected, doctors have been killed or detained, and facilities are working without sufficient medical supplies."
In less than two years of war, Israeli strikes have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Nearly 1,800 people have been killed and nearly 13,000 wounded while trying to get food aid in the last few weeks, most killed by Israeli forces, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel says in most cases its troops have only fired warning shots at crowds.
Rebukes follow Israel's stated goal of controlling Gaza City
Protests erupted across Israel in response to the government's planned expanded offensive in Gaza, with tens of thousands of people demonstrating in Tel Aviv and beyond. Some of them were former hostages held by militants in Gaza who said the new offensive would risk the lives of the hostages still in captivity following the deadly Hamas-led attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
"Expanding the fighting endangers the hostages and the soldiers — the people of Israel are not willing to risk them!" the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Saturday in a post on X.
There were also pro-Palestinian protests abroad, including in London, where the Metropolitan Police said officers arrested 522 people Saturday for supporting the group Palestine Action, which has been banned in the U.K. under a national terrorism law.
Palestinians roundly condemned Israel's new strategy.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Israel's decision a "complete crime that represents a continuation of the policy of genocide, systematic killing, starvation and siege, and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and U.N. resolutions."
International criticism of Israel's plan has also been strong, with pushback from the U.N. and government leaders in Europe and the Middle East.
On Sunday, foreign affairs ministers from Spain, Portugal, Norway and other European countries signed a joint letter bashing Israel's plan, saying it would worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, endanger the remaining hostages and "lead to an unacceptable high toll of deaths and the forced displacement of nearly one million Palestinian civilians." Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey also condemned Israel's plan. And Germany, one of Israel's staunchest longtime supporters, announced Friday that it will stop exporting military equipment to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip.
But Dorothy Shea, the U.S. interim ambassador to the U.N., said during the Security Council meeting Sunday that "Israel has a right to decide what is necessary for its security, and what measures are appropriate to end the threat posed by Hamas and other similar groups."
Shea added: "The simple truth is that this war could end today if Hamas would let the hostages and all of Gaza go free."
Netanyahu's office said on Sunday that the prime minister spoke to President Trump about the plan to seize control of Gaza City and thanked Trump "for his steadfast support for Israel since the start of the war." Last week, when asked about a possible plan by Israel to occupy all of Gaza, Trump said that was "pretty much up to Israel."
NPR's Robbie Griffiths, Jane Arraf and Eleanor Beardsley contributed reporting.
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