Netanyahu to convene security cabinet today to discuss expanding Gaza war

2025-08-07 14:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with a small group of senior ministers today to review plans for the Israeli military to seize more territory in the Gaza Strip, despite growing opposition at home and abroad to the nearly two-year-old war.

Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet after a three-hour meeting this week with the army chief, which Israeli officials described as tense, saying the army chief had opposed expanding the military campaign.

Polls show that most Israelis want the war to end with a deal that would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Netanyahu's government insists on complete victory against Hamas - the Palestinian militant group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

The intention for Israeli forces to enter areas they do not yet control in the devastated Palestinian enclave has caused concern in Israel.

The Hostage Families Forum, which represents relatives of hostages held in Gaza, urged the army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, to oppose the expansion of the war and called on the government to accept a deal that would end the war and secure the release of the remaining hostages.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stressed on Wednesday that the military will implement the government's decisions until all war goals are achieved.

Israeli leaders have long demanded that Hamas disarm and no longer have any role in a demilitarized Gaza and that the hostages be released.

The UN has called reports of a possible expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza "deeply concerning".

The Israeli military says it controls about 75 percent of Gaza. Most of the population of about 2 million has been displaced several times over the past 22 months, and aid agencies warn that residents are on the brink of extreme hunger.

About 200 Palestinians have died of starvation since the start of the war, nearly half of them children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Netanyahu faces great international pressure to reach a ceasefire agreement, but he also faces internal pressure from his coalition to continue the war.

Some far-right allies in his government have called for Gaza to be completely occupied and for Israel to re-establish Jewish settlements there, two decades after the withdrawal.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes the government will approve the military's takeover of the rest of Gaza.

The war began when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack and took 251 others hostage.

Most of the hostages have been released through ceasefires or other agreements. Of the approximately 50 still remaining in Gaza, about 20 are believed to be still alive.

Israel's war of revenge has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not specify how many of them were fighters or civilians, but says about half were women and children .