Former Israeli officer warn against full occupation of Gaza, saying it could hamper safety of Israeli hostages in the enclave.
US says "As long as Hamas exists as an armed group in Gaza, there will not be peace"
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Israel’s assault killed 23 people across the Gaza enclave. Since Wednesday, a total of 44 Palestinians and 18 aid seekers have been killed. The number of people who have died from starvation and malnutrition has risen to 193, with 5 new hunger-related deaths occurring yesterday. The UN said Israel’s blockade of Gaza means the lives of more than 100 premature babies are in “imminent danger”, as a lack of fuel impedes “life-saving” operations in hospitals.
The war has killed at least 61,158 people and wounded 151,442. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Israel’s Officers React To Full Occupation Idea
Former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin says he opposes a full-scale occupation of Gaza, warning it would require astronomical resources and likely “doom” the Israeli captives still held in the enclave. “We’re talking about two million people and military rule; desperate people with destroyed homes, no hospitals or schools,” Yadlin, who served as the military intelligence head in 2011-2012, told Israel’s Maariv newspaper. “The responsibility for them will fall on us.”
“If I were in the cabinet today, I would lay out the implications of occupying Gaza,” he added. “In my view, it would doom the hostages. After 22 months, the [Israeli military] knows how to conquer above-ground Gaza, but it doesn’t know how to conquer underground Gaza or rescue the hostages.”
The Ynet news site quoted a senior official close to the government saying, “The die is cast — we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip.”
“There will be operations even in areas where hostages are being held. If the chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign,” they added, referring to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reportedly opposes the proposed occupation of Gaza.
The IDF currently holds control over approximately 75 per cent of the Gaza Strip, but under the new plan, the military would be expected to occupy the remaining territory as well, bringing the entire enclave under Israeli control, he said, according to Al-Jazeera.
Raids in Gaza refugee camps
On Thursday, a raid targeted the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, where Israeli special forces stormed several homes and arrested one man, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency. Two others were detained in the nearby town of Burin, the agency said. Elsewhere, Israeli forces arrested two men near Hebron and another in Beitunia, near Ramallah, Wafa news agency said.
International reactions to the ongoing conflict.
Slovenia on Wednesday announced a ban on imports of goods from settlements in the West Bank, in a “symbolic measure” designed to ratchet up diplomatic pressure over the war in Gaza, earlier on August 2 Slovenia had announced that it will ban the import, export and transit of all weapons to and from Israel in response to the country’s actions in Gaza.
Indonesia has decided to convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 wounded residents of Gaza, who will return home after recovery, a presidential spokesperson said to Reuters on Thursday.
United States of America, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has said that while the Trump administration wants to “do everything [it] can to be helpful on the humanitarian problem” in Gaza, the starvation crisis there should not overshadow the plight of the Israeli captives. Not enough attention [is] being paid to the fact that 20 people [who] had nothing to do with this are being held hostage in tunnels on the verge of death, and no real talk about how Hamas needs to be disarmed and disbanded,” he told US broadcaster Fox News. “As long as Hamas exists as an armed group in Gaza, there will not be peace, there will not be a peaceful future – because it’s going to happen again. And this can never happen again,” Rubio added.
