Israeli Government Reportedly Decided To Occupy Gaza

The Israeli government has reportedly decided to occupy Gaza, dramatically escalating the conflict in the enclave even further.

Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal quoted a senior official in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who confirmed the decision has been made.

Reuters noted that U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said last Saturday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan to effectively end the war in the enclave.

The outlet quoted another senior Israeli official who said that after the meeting "an understanding was emerging between Washington and Israel" on a need to shift from a partial deal to one that would "release all the hostages, disarm Hamas, and demilitarize the Gaza Strip."

However, the official later added that pursuing a deal would be pointless, claiming that "Hamas is not interested in a deal and therefore the prime minister is pushing to release the hostages while pressing for military defeat."

Local outlet Haaretz also reported on Friday that his government has the backing of the Trump administration to begin annexing the strip if Hamas doesn't agree to a ceasefire proposal.

The first areas to be annexed would be those in the buffer zone, followed by some in the northern part close to the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon. It would continue progressively until the whole strip is annexed. It is not clear what would happen to the two million Palestinians living in Gaza.

The Netanyahu government could move forward despite warnings from almost 20 former senior security officials, who on Sunday issued a joint video calling for the war to end. They argued that Israel has lost more than it won and that the fighting has continued for political reasons rather than military ones.

"Each of these people sat in cabinet meetings, operated in the inner circles, attended all the most sensitive decision-making processes," says a voiceover of the video. The men then claim that the war could have ended a long time ago and demand the government reaches a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive hostage deal.

This war started as a just war. It was a defensive war. But once we achieved all its military objectives, once we achieved a brilliant military victory against all our enemies, this war stopped being a just war. It is leading the State of Israel to the loss of its security and identity," said former Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon.