Netanyahu promises to move Gaza’s population after Israel approves plan to ‘conquer’ the enclave
Dana Karni, Lucas Lilieholm and Oren Liebermann, CNN
Mon, May 5, 2025
An Israeli army tank maneuvers in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel on May 4. - Ariel Schalit/AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the population of Gaza will be moved after his security cabinet approved an expanded military operation in the enclave that a minister described as a plan to “conquer” the territory.
The vote on Sunday came hours after the military said it would mobilize tens of thousands of reservists, strengthening its capacity to operate in the besieged Palestinian territory.
“One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out,” Netanyahu said in a Monday video message posted on X. “We’ll call up reserves to come, hold territory — we’re not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward. That’s not the plan. The intention is the opposite.”
“There will be a movement of the population to protect them,” Netanyahu said.
A senior Israeli security official earlier said the operation in Gaza, called “Gideon’s Chariots,” was unanimously approved by the security cabinet with the aim of subduing Hamas and securing the release of all hostages.
The plan would be implemented after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week to “provide a window of opportunity” for a hostage deal, the official added.
“If no hostage deal is reached, Operation Gideon’s Chariots will begin with full force and will not stop until all its objectives are achieved.”
The plan then is to move Gaza’s entire population to the south of the enclave, following which the total the blockade of humanitarian aid may be lifted, the official said, adding that the military “will remain in every area it captures.”
“In any temporary or permanent agreement, Israel will not evacuate the security buffer zone around Gaza, which is intended to protect Israeli communities and prevent arms smuggling to Hamas,” the official said.
Gaza annexation not ruled out
Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that “we are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.”
Annexing Gaza is a possibility, and once the military expands its operations in the enclave, it will not pull back – even if Hamas agrees to a new hostage deal, he said at a conference in Jerusalem, referring to the security cabinet decision on Sunday.
“Once we conquer and stay – we can talk about sovereignty (over Gaza). But I didn’t demand that it be included in the war’s objectives,” he added. “Once the maneuver begins – there will be no withdrawal from the territories we’ve captured, not even in exchange for hostages.”
Smotrich primarily handles the country’s finances, but he sits on the security cabinet and holds significant sway over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who relies on his support to keep the government from collapsing.
More than 2,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since mid-March when Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes, shattering a ceasefire, which had been in place for nearly two months. More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The expansion of the fighting will be gradual to give a chance for a renewed ceasefire and hostage release deal before US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region in mid-May, the officials said. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar next week, but there is currently no stop planned in Israel
An Israeli blockade of all humanitarian aid into the strip is now in its ninth week.
New aid mechanism
The cabinet also discussed allowing the resumption of aid deliveries into Gaza under a new framework which was approved, but has not yet been implemented, according to one of the sources.
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that a confrontation had broken out during Sunday’s meeting over the resumption of aid deliveries with two far-right members of the cabinet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and settlements minister Orit Strook opposed to any resumption of aid and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir arguing Israel was obligated to facilitate them under international law.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Monday. - Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
According to one of the source who spoke to CNN, the Israeli media reports about the arguments over the aid “are not wrong.”
Israel says it cut off the entry of humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But international organizations say its actions violate international law and risks creating a man-made famine, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war – a war crime.
United States and Israeli officials are discussing a mechanism to deliver aid to Gaza that bypasses Hamas, an Israeli source familiar with the matter and a State Department official told CNN. The official said an announcement could be made “in the coming days.”
The delivery mechanism in the works is intended to allow aid to reach the Palestinian population with safeguards to ensure it is not diverted by Hamas or Islamic Jihad, according to a State Department spokesperson.
An unnamed private foundation would manage the aid mechanism and the delivery of the humanitarian supplies into Gaza, the spokesperson said.
The US expects the United Nations and international aid organizations to work with the framework of the foundation’s mechanism to ensure that supplies do not reach Hamas, the spokesperson said.
Aid agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory rejected the new framework for aid deliveries Sunday saying the plan appeared “designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items” and would fail to ensure aid reached Gaza’s most vulnerable residents.
“The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator have made clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” the groups said in a joint statement.
DPA
Mon, May 5, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre, in Ramat Gan. Jack Guez/AFP pool/dpa
The Israeli security Cabinet has approved a plan to take over the Gaza Strip and for the army to control the territory for an unspecified amount of time, government sources said on Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the armed forces would move from carrying out raids to conquering the Gaza Strip and becoming a permanent presence there.
The plan involves moving the population from the north to the south, according to the sources. Israel's aim is to defeat the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and secure the release of the hostages Hamas is still holding.
Hamas should also be prevented from intercepting humanitarian aid supplies, according to the sources.
Netanyahu said he continues to support US President Donald Trump's plan for a "voluntary emigration of Gaza residents," and that discussions are under way with several countries.
Trump's plan, that the United States would "take over" and "own" the Gaza Strip, was met with strong international criticism.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said last month that Israeli soldiers should retain permanent control in all areas conquered in the Gaza Strip.
The army would remain in the "security zones" and act as a buffer between the enemy and the Israeli communities "in any temporary or permanent reality," Katz said.
Unlike in the past, the army would no longer evacuate areas, Katz said. If Hamas does not release the hostages, the operations would be expanded, he added.
Katz previously said the armed forces would conquer large areas in the Gaza Strip to serve as Israeli-controlled "security zones."
Hamas triggered the Gaza war by launching the unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250.
More than 52,400 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to Hamas-controlled health authorities, including some 2,300 since fighting resumed on March 18. Hamas does not distinguish between its fighters and civilians in the death toll.
EU 'concerned' about Israel's plans to take over Gaza
"The European Union is concerned about the extension of these operations in Gaza, which will lead to further casualties and additional suffering for the Palestinian population," an EU spokesman told journalists in response to the Israeli plans.
"The EU urges for Israel to hold back," he added, reiterating the bloc's position "that negotiation is the only method, the only way forward for the return of hostages and the ceasing of all hostilities."
The EU also urged Israel to lift its blockade on Gaza and to allow "immediate access to and the distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as the restoration of electricity to Gaza and the restoration of critical services."
"The Palestinian population has suffered enough in recent years and that it's time to put an end to the violence and suffering."
Those concerns were echoed in Berlin. "Gaza belongs to the Palestinians," a government spokesman said, calling the reports of the Israeli decision "worrying."
The the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial nations - including Germany, France and the United States - outlined their rejection of the "occupation, colonization and reduction of the territory of Gaza" in 2023, he said.
Row over aid in security Cabinet
Meanwhile a dispute arose within the Israeli security Cabinet over resuming blocked aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, according to reports.
Israel has been preventing aid deliveries from reaching Gaza for more than two months, with catastrophic consequences for Gazans.
The security Cabinet eventually agreed to distribute aid using private security companies, an approach the UN condemned as violating core humanitarian principles.
The Times of Israel reported that there had been a "heated discussion" between far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir.
Ben-Gvir had said that it was "not necessary" to resume aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. The people there have enough, he claimed. "The Hamas food depots should be bombed," Ben-Gvir said. Another minister agreed with him.
Zamir said such ideas were jeopardizing Israel. "There is international law to which we are bound," he said. "We cannot starve the Gaza Strip to death."
Israel faces growing international condemnation as people face starvation. But the government accuses Hamas of intercepting aid supplies and selling them to the civilian population for profit in order to finance its fighters and weapons. Israel also seeks to put more pressure on Hamas to release the last hostages.
The UN criticized the Israeli plan to deliver aid into Gaza under military-controlled conditions, saying the proposal appeared "designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy."
Houthis threaten to hit airport again
Meanwhile after an attack near Tel Aviv airport, the Houthi militia in Yemen threatened to further disrupt air traffic to Israel.
Yemen's Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels said they fired the a ballistic missile at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on Sunday. Israel confirmed a strike near the airport.
Houthi military spokesman Yehya Saree repeated the call for international airlines to "cancel all flights" to Israeli airports in order to protect their aircraft and personnel.
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