Israel Security Cabinet meets to discuss Gaza plans – DW – 08/07/2025

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said an operation with the Lebanese military has led to the discovery of several bunkers in southern Lebanon. 

Artillery pieces, rocket launchers, hundreds of grenades and missiles, anti-tank mines and other explosives were also found, the UNIFIL said. 

It comes as sporadic cross-border fighting between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah continues despite a ceasefire that was agreed in November.

Lebanese state-run media reported on Thursday that an Israeli strike on the country’s east killed at least five people.

Lebanon is moving to disarm the Iran-backed group and bring all its weapons under state control. 

On Thursday, US envoy Tom Barrack congratulated Lebanese leaders “for making the historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing” the November ceasefire.

“This week’s Cabinet resolutions finally put into motion the ‘One Nation, One Army’ solution for Lebanon. We stand behind the Lebanese people,” Barrack said.

Protesters have taken to the streets across Israelto show support for the hostages’ families and demonstrate against the government’s plans to expand the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The demonstrations have taken place as Israel’s Security Cabinet meets to discuss the plan for the complete takeover of the enclave, a move many believe would put the hostages still held by Palestinian militant group Hamas at risk.

Fifty hostages are still being held by the group and other groups, with some 20 of them still believed to be alive.

Videos of two hostages were recently released by Hamasand the Islamic Jihad, in which the hostages looked gaunt, with one of them digging what he said would be his own grave.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to take over Gaza would be detrimental to hopes for a truce. 

The group said Netanyahu’s latest remarks on Gaza mark “a clear reversal of the course of negotiations and clearly reveal the true motives behind his withdrawal from the final round, despite our close proximity to a final agreement.” 

Hamas also accused Netanyahu of seeking “to get rid of the captives and sacrifice them in pursuit of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda.” 

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip have launched a protest flotilla from the coastal city of Ashkelon, 21 kilometers (13 miles) away from the Palestinian enclave, for a symbolic trip. 

The families said they were seeking to send messages of support to their loved ones and draw attention to their suffering. 

They are sailing south “to get as close as possible” to the captives, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on X. 

The trip of Shayetet 50 (Flotilla 50), in reference to the 50 hostages still held captive in Gaza, is set to take around two hours to a point near the besieged enclave.

The families of the captives have criticized a reported Israeli government plan to take over Gaza entirely, saying it would put the hostages’ lives in danger.

Israeli media outlets have reported that the army would need around five months to take full control of the Gaza Strip. 

Israel is estimated to already be in control of around 75% of the Palestinian enclave. The plan to expand the Israeli operations in Gaza is reportedly aimed at destroying Hamas and returning the remaining Israeli hostages.

According to Israeli TV channel N12, the plan suggested by Netanyahu starts with evacuation orders to the residents of Gaza City, where up to 1 million people live. The initial objective is the occupation of the city to allow the Israeli army to reach the central camps where they say Hamas is still operating, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army is suggesting a different plan: encircling Gaza City and the central camps and applying “significant fire” to prepare the territory for the entrance of soldiers, according to the report.

That would be followed by excursions of soldiers to exhaust Hamas forces while avoiding getting entangled in any operations in Gaza City, a region considered dangerous for soldiers and, potentially, Israeli hostages held there. 

Kan News reported, citing unnamed security sources, that the goal is to push Gaza’s population to the south, which would in turn also serve the “voluntary migration” plan pushed by the Israeli government for as many Palestinians as possible to leave Gaza and migrate to different countries.

DW’s Felix Tamsut contributed to this entry.

Aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has published a report condemning “systemic violence against civilians” at sites run by the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

The report is titled: “This is not aid. This is orchestrated killing.”

MSF said its patients in Gaza shared accounts of dehumanization and targeted violence at GHF distribution centers.

According to the report, 1,380 victims arrived from GHF centers at two MSF clinics between June 7 and July 24 — 28 of them were already dead.

“In MSF’s nearly 54 years of operation, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians,” said Raquel Ayora, MSF general director. 

MSF called for the immediate cessation of the GHF distribution mechanism.

Israel introduced the GHF in May, two months after a total blockade on Gaza that it said was to prevent Hamas from stealing aid.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said 99 people are believed to have died from malnutrition in Gaza this year, adding that the figure was likely an underestimate.

“Malnutrition is widespread and hunger-related deaths are rising,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

People in Gaza “have limited access to basic services, have faced repeated displacement and are now suffering from a blockade of food supplies,” Tedros told the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.

Tedros also said the number of children suffering from malnutrition was rising. 

“In July, nearly 12,000 children under 5 years were identified as suffering from acute malnutrition — the highest monthly figure ever recorded,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is not seeking to indefinitely control or govern Gaza.

Asked if Israel planned to take control of “all of Gaza,” Netanyahu said: “We intend to.”

“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it,” Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast on US broadcaster Fox News.

“We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life. That’s not possible with Hamas,” he added.

The US broadcaster said the interview took place just before Netanyahu was set to attend a Security Cabinet meeting on Israel’s Gaza plans on Thursday.

Israel  occupied the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War and until 2005. Hamas took power in Gaza after Israel’s withdrawal. 

US President Donald Trump has said it was important that more countries join the Abraham Accords to ensure peace in the Middle East.

The US-mediated deal was signed during Trump’s first term in office, with four Muslim-majority countries agreeing to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Now that the nuclear arsenal being ‘created’ by Iran has been totally OBLITERATED, it is very important to me that all Middle Eastern Countries join the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

More countries in the region have been hesitant to join the deal amid public outrage over the death toll and starvation in Gaza.

According to local officials, more than 60,000 people have been killed during Israel’s assault in Gaza. 

The Israeli Security Cabinet is meeting to discuss plans in Gaza, amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking approval for expanding operations in the Palestinian territory. 

Some Israeli media reports have suggested the government is preparing to order a full occupation of Gaza.

The Times of Israel news outlet said the meeting on Thursday was due to begin around 6 p.m. local time (1500 GMT).

Netanyahu had earlier this week held talks with army chief Eyal Zamir about possible next steps in Gaza. The prime minister’s office confirmed Zamir presented several options for continuing the conflict, but no details were disclosed publicly.

The plans need approval from the Israeli Security Cabinet. 

Families of hostages still held in Gaza have opposed Israeli occupation of Gaza, saying it would put the captives’ lives at risk. Israeli estimates suggest about 50 hostages remain, with some 20 believed to be alive.

According to Israeli media, Zamir has also warned that such plan would endanger the hostages and further strain Israel’s army.

Israel occupied Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War and withdrew in 2005. 

We’re waiting for an announcement from the Israeli Security Cabinet meeting today, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks approval for an update to Israel’s plan for Gaza.

It comes as Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure internationally and domestically, reportedly also from the army chief. 

Also on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) is giving an update on starvation in Gaza. 

Later today, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community is expected to hold a protest against the arrest of students who evaded military draft.