The Israeli Security Cabinet's recent plan to take over Gaza City has sparked criticism from Israeli opposition leaders and condemnation from the Palestinian side.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday in a statement that the Security Cabinet has approved a plan to take over the enclave's biggest city, and that the Israel Defense Forces will prepare for the takeover while distributing humanitarian assistance to civilians outside the combat zones.
Eyal Zamir, chief of the Israel Defense Forces, said on the day that the military will carry out the mission in a best way.
Following the announcement, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the takeover plan on Friday, saying that the State of Palestine is maintaining close contact with Arab leaders and the international community.
He condemned and rejected the Israeli plan, vowing to pursue all possible efforts to halt this act of aggression.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (Jihad) said in a statement on Friday that the Israeli Security Cabinet decided to expand its occupation under the pretext of rescuing hostages, which marks a new phase in Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people through terrorism and massacres.
Jihad called on the international community to prevent Israel's escalation, warning that Israel's goal is the full occupation of Gaza and the displacement of Palestinians.
The Israeli government had obstructed negotiations while flouting all humanitarian and moral principles, according to the statement.
Jihad reaffirmed its commitment to standing with all resistance forces and exerting every possible effort to confront the Israeli military.
Yair Lapid, opposition leader in the Israeli parliament and chairman of the centrist Yesh Atid party, wrote in a social media post that the decision is "a disaster that will lead to many more disasters".
In complete contradiction to the opinion of the military and security ranks, it will drag Israel "into a move that will take months, lead to the deaths of the Israeli hostages, the killing of many soldiers, cost Israeli taxpayers tens of billions, and lead to a political collapse," the former Israeli prime minister wrote.
He warned that Israel will be "trapped in the field without a goal, without defining the picture of the day after, in a useless occupation that no one understands where it is leading."
Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, also head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, said that the decision disregards both security considerations and the war's objectives.
Yair Golan, chairman of The Democrats party, called the decision a disaster for generations, and a death sentence for the hostages.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Friday that the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza will neither defeat the Palestinian militant group Hamas nor secure the hostages' release, it will only put the hostages in greater peril.
Gaza-based health authorities said Friday that at least 9,824 Palestinians have been killed and 40,318 injured since Israel renewed intensive strikes on March 18, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 61,330, with 152,359 wounded.
Palestinians, Israeli oppositions condemn Gaza takeover plan
