Inside Israel’s Push to Take Over Gaza City

August 11th, 2025
Christina Yang

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict approaches its two-year mark and ceasefire negotiations remain in diplomatic stalemate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced his intentions to take over the entire Gaza Strip. On August 8, his security cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City, executing the first phases of Netanyahu’s larger vision.

Gaza City remains one of the few areas in Palestine that has not been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders. The acquisition of Gaza City would give Israel control of about 85% of the strip—around 900,000 people live in Gaza City. This plan is likely to lead to mass displacements of the already exhausted and starving Palestinian population.

A statement issued by Netanyahu outlined the five principles for his takeover plan and ending the war:

The disarmament of Hamas
The return of all hostages, both living and dead
The demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip
Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip
The establishment of an alternative civilian administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority

Despite the drawn-out details of the plan, the timing of this operation remains unclear. The plan will require mobilizing thousands of troops and evacuating thousands of civilians, which the Chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum estimated would take at least three months. Many also believe that Netanyahu intentionally set a loose deadline for the start of the operation —around 2 months—to leave the door open to pressure Hamas into making concessions to Israel.

This Gaza takeover plan has also placed Israel in a state of isolation. Families of the hostages held in Gaza have started to protest, and opinion polls from the general public show that the majority of Israelis support a ceasefire deal to bring the hostages back and end the war. Israel’s top military generals and security officials have also warned that this plan would further exhaust the Israeli soldiers and burden Israeli taxpayers with tens of billions of dollars. On the international scale, numerous countries have already condemned this move. For example, Germany—Israel’s second-largest arms supplier and strongest supporter in Europe—suspended the delivery of all weaponry that could be used in Gaza. Moreover, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the UN and more have all issued statements urging Israel to reconsider its actions. The recent recognition of Palestine’s statehood by France and the potential recognition by Britain and Canada also puts more diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop. However, no opposition has come from the United States so far.

In response to the wave of backlash, Netanyahu announced that he plans to hand Gaza over to Arab forces eventually. Still, it is extremely unclear what would happen next, as Arab governments have stated that they will only engage in Gaza with an invitation from the Palestinian government.

Despite the erosion of support for Israel around the world, Netanyahu has pushed forward with the plan as prolonging the war buys him time to push for his political survival. Netanyahu’s far-right leaning allies, Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have threatened to collapse his government if the war were to end now. Therefore, it is evident that this Gaza takeover plan complicates any ceasefire progress, satisfies little to no one but Netanyahu, and significantly exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

Extemp Analysis by: Rowan Seipp

Question: Why is Israel's plan for Gaza so controversial?

AGD: This is a serious topic. Treat it as such. Tell a story about a person being affected by the conflict.

Background: Talk about the severity of the conflict and Israel's plan for takeover of Gaza. Give stats!!! Lots and lots of stats

Answer: Because of a lack of comprehensive planning

Humanitarian Crisis
Hostage Concerns
Lack of a "Day After" Plan

Analysis + Concluding Thoughts

Israel's plan is controversial. I would stray away from politically charged rhetoric. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum,you don't know where your judge lies. However, you can still convey your political point but make sure you account for the other side’s beliefs as well.