The plan focuses on Gaza City and the major camps, while taking into account the preservation of the lives of the detainees and “minimizing the damage to Israel’s international standing, amidst an acknowledgment of the decline in international legitimacy for the operation, except for American support,” according to a report from Israel’s Channel 12.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that the center of gravity for the Palestinian Hamas movement is in Gaza City, noting that “the majority of ministers rejected merely besieging the strongholds or launching specific raids, considering that this would not achieve victory or ensure the release of the detainees.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu stated on Sunday that he is “determined to end the war swiftly,” indicating that he has instructed the military to reduce the timeline for taking control of Gaza City. Netanyahu said, “The decision made by the security cabinet is crucial in eliminating Hamas,” adding that “Hamas’s conditions for reaching an agreement are conditions of surrender, and we will not accept them.”
Netanyahu confirmed that “Israel will impose security control and establish an alternative civil administration that does not include Hamas or the Palestinian Authority,” noting that his country “will surprise Hamas in various ways and has the capability to eliminate it.”
