Palestinians carry the body of a person who was killed while seeking food at a distribution point run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Salah al-Din Street in Nuseirat. Photo: AFP.
The Israeli regime’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip following the 22-month genocidal war against the Palestinian territory, according to Israeli media reports.
Senior officials from Netanyahu’s office confirmed this decision on Monday evening, stating, “Israel is going to conquer the Gaza Strip,” Israeli media reported.
The plan involves Israeli occupation forces expanding their ground invasion into more areas, including central refugee camps.
“We are moving to occupy the Strip – the decision has been made,” an official in Netanyahu’s office said, adding that Hamas will not release the 50 remaining hostages without surrender.
“If we do not act now, the hostages will die of starvation while Gaza remains under Hamas control,” the official claimed.
Palestinian and Israeli rights groups say that 50 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive, while the Israeli regime is holding more than 10,800 Palestinian detainees, many of whom face torture, starvation and medical neglect.
A senior official with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said on Sunday that Netanyahu seeks to kill Israeli captives through starvation.
Izzat al-Rishq said Israeli captives are also being affected now by the starvation and thirst policy that Netanyahu and the “Nazi” administration have imposed on the people in Gaza, emphasizing that the Israeli regime shoulders full responsibility for their condition.
“When Netanyahu could not find the hostages and kill them through airstrikes, he is now trying to end the matter by starving them,” he added.
He noted that the Palestinian resistance forces observe religious and humanitarian principles in dealing with Israeli captives, sharing their own food and water with them as they do with the wider Palestinian population.
The Hamas official emphasized that those Israeli captives who were released in the previous prisoner exchanges in good physical and mental health are now suffering from hunger, weakness and weight loss — mirroring the plight of besieged Gaza residents.
Currently, Israeli forces occupy about 75% of Gaza. The escalation announced by Netanyahu faces criticism domestically and internationally, with calls for a diplomatic resolution growing amidst rising humanitarian concerns in Gaza.
Opposition to a full occupation includes warnings that it could risk hostage lives and prolong the war.
Survivors of Aid Massacres: Israel Is Eroding Gaza’s Social Fabric
‘Full occupation of Gaza means captives will die’
Israeli lawmaker Gilad Kariv denounced the plan a “death sentence” for the captives, while a group of former military and intelligence chiefs warned that ongoing warfare could lead to Israel’s defeat.
Israeli lawmaker Merav Cohen said that any plan to take full control of Gaza, including areas where Israeli captives are being held, would mean “we will bring our brothers back only in coffins”.
“We want them alive, we do not want them in coffins,” Cohen said.
Former Mossad director Tamir Pardo emphasized that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was largely of Israel’s making, slamming the regime for perpetuating the war under false pretenses.
While both Israeli officials and global leaders have called for a ceasefire, there are currently no indications that the Netanyahu regime will resume negotiations with Hamas.
In January, a temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas led to the release of several captives and Palestinian abductees held illegally in Israeli jails.
However, the Israeli regime refused to extend the deal as initially planned, choosing instead to intensify its military assaults on Gaza by shattering the 2-month deal.
Dozens of the captives have already been killed in Israel’s indiscriminate and relentless bombardment of the Palestinian territory, and now, the Israeli-imposed starvation is taking its toll on them, too.
Israel started its genocidal campaign on October 7, 2023, but the regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives in Gaza despite killing nearly 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Rights groups have condemned the Israeli blockade on vital supplies as a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation of international law.
Since May, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,330 Palestinian aid seekers, and over 8,810 others have been wounded in Israeli attacks, mainly at GHF centers.
The United Nations agencies say more than 6,000 Palestinian children are being treated for malnutrition resulting from an all-out blockade of Gaza.
At least 175 people, including 93 children, have starved to death in Gaza since the Israeli regime launched the war in October 2023.
Israel has rejected calls from the UN, aid agencies, and world leaders to allow more aid trucks into the besieged region to alleviate the crisis.
More Palestinians die every single day due to forced starvation and malnutrition.
Parents watch their children waste away as deliberate aid restrictions from Israel mean hunger is becoming a killer across the besieged territory.
The whole Palestinian population was completely relying on UN agencies and other partners to distribute food. Israel has dismantled the UN-backed aid delivery system and replaced it with a controversial US-backed mechanism, which humanitarian aid workers and Gaza authorities say has only exacerbated the crisis.
(PressTV)
