The Israeli security cabinet approves the conquest of Gaza City, and Germany suspends arms shipments.

BarcelonaIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally received the green light to militarily occupy Gaza. After a 10-hour meeting, he obtained the approval of his security cabinet to "defeat Hamas," beginning with an operation to occupy Gaza City, the Israeli government confirmed in a statement. It did not specify what will happen to the rest of the Strip, although this Thursday the prime minister declared his intention to extend the operation to the entire territory. He did so just before the cabinet discussion session began.

In an interview on Fox just before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu explained that his government wants to take control of all of Gaza, but not by annexing it to Israel, but rather by handing it over to "a civilian government" once Hamas has been extinguished. "That's our intention," Netanyahu responded when the Fox News interviewer asked him if he wanted to take control of all of Gaza. "We don't want to keep it [this control]. We want to create a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body," he explained. "[We want] to kick Hamas out and allow the people of Gaza to be free, and hand over control to a civilian government that is not Hamas or anyone else who advocates the destruction of Israel," he also said during the interview.

However, opposition to Netanyahu's employment plans from senior military officials, who had publicly warned that it would endanger the Israeli hostages, likely complicated the security cabinet meeting, which dragged on into the early hours of the morning. Finally, the decision that has emerged is limited to Gaza City, but many media outlets and experts interpret it as a first step toward the total occupation of the Strip that Netanyahu had announced.

The Israeli government statement assures that the army will now begin preparing to take control of Gaza City while ensuring, at the same time, "the provision of humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones." The security cabinet also adopted "by majority vote" five principles to end the war: disarming Hamas, the return of all hostages, whether alive or not, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli control of security in the Gaza Strip, and the establishment of an "alternative civilian administration" for the Strip that is neither part of the occupied West Bank.

While the meeting was still underway, on Thursday, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for Gaza City, in the north of the Strip. Specifically, the orders affect four areas in the Daraj and Tufah neighborhoods, and the population is being called to move to the "humanitarian" zone of Al Mawasi. According to the newspaper, Haaretz, the Israeli government's intention is for the total evacuation of Gaza City to be completed by October 7, two years after the brutal Hamas attack that triggered an Israeli military operation described by major Israeli NGOs as "genocide." The text of the agreement avoids the word occupy and uses the expression take control.

International condemnation and halt to German military exports

The reactions have been swift. UN human rights chief Volker Türk said that the plan approved by the Israeli government "must be stopped immediately," that it is contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice, and that the "further escalation will lead to more massive forced displacement, more deaths, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction, and crimes." Several world leaders also criticized the Netanyahu government's decision, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called the Israeli decision "wrong" because it "will only cause more bloodshed."

Germany's reaction has been even more forceful: it has suspended arms exports to Israel. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this Friday that his government will not approve any export of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice. "The German government believes that the even tougher military action in the Gaza Strip decided by the Israeli cabinet last night makes it increasingly difficult to see how to achieve these goals," Merz said in a statement.

This is the first time that Germany has decided to deny military support to its ally, a change of position that responds to growing pressure from the country's public and from Merz's Social Democratic coalition partners over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Israel after the United States – accounting for 30% of all arms imported into the country – and has long been one of its staunchest supporters. In fact, in the months following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Berlin increased arms exports to Israel tenfold, totaling €485 million in weapons between that date and May 2025. But a June opinion poll indicated that 73% of the more than 30% favored a total ban. "That is the right decision. The humanitarian suffering in Gaza is unbearable," said Social Democrat Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil. Merz has made it clear that the release of the hostages and negotiations for a ceasefire are Germany's top priorities, and has urged the Israeli government not to take further steps to annex parts of the West Bank.

Netanyahu himself spoke by phone with Chancellor Merz on Friday to express his "disappointment" with the decision to suspend arms shipments. The Israeli prime minister's office issued a statement explaining that Netanyahu had spoken with the German chancellor to explain that "Israel's goal is not to take control of Gaza but to liberate the people of Gaza and establish a peaceful government." "Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism with this embargo," the statement said.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders on Friday called on Israel to "reconsider" its plans to occupy Gaza City. In a message on social media, European Council President António Costa warned that the operation—as well as the increase in settlements, the destruction of Gaza, and the policy of promoting hunger—not only violates the agreement with the European Union announced in mid-July, but also violates the fundamental principles of international law and "universal values." Therefore, the Portuguese Prime Minister believes that the decision "must have consequences for relations between the EU and Israel," reports ACN.

Demonstrations in Israel against the total occupation of Gaza

During the cabinet meeting, thousands of Israelis took to the streets across the country to express their opposition to the expansion of the offensive in Gaza and to demand a hostage exchange agreement. Hundreds of people gathered Thursday outside the prime minister's office, where the security cabinet meeting took place. Among the protesters were at least three hostages in Gaza who were released in the previous agreements signed between Israel and Hamas (one in November 2023 and another in January of this year): Ilana Gritzewsky, Arbel Yehoud, and Sharon Cunio Alony, according to Efe. Their respective partners, Matan Zangauker, Ariel Cunio, and David Cunio, remain in captivity.

Before the cabinet decision was announced, Hamas had issued a statement warning that Netanyahu's remarks about the expansion of the military offensive were a "blow" to the ceasefire negotiations. For the Islamist militia, the Israeli prime minister's expressed intentions show that he "seeks to sacrifice his own hostages to serve his personal interests." "Expanding the aggression will not be so easy. The price will be high," Hamas warned in its statement, which said Netanyahu's words were "a clear change in the course of negotiations" for a truce, which had already stalled. It also warned that any Gaza government chosen by Israel would be considered a "labor force linked to Israel."

Both the opposition leader as senior Israeli military officers have expressed their opposition to the plans for a "total" occupation of Gaza, which had been announced by Netanyahu's office since the beginning of this week and by the Minister of National Security himself, the ultra-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, during a provocative visit to the Esplanade of the Mosques this past Sunday. The chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has openly opposed the entry of the army into the areas where Israeli intelligence believes the hostages are being held, so as not to endanger their lives, so as not to worsen Israel's international image and so as not to further expose troops that are already showing too much2. indiscriminate without achieving any of the declared objectives of the war: neither the liberation of the hostages, nor the disappearance of Hamas.

A group of 600 former Israeli security officials, including ministers and former heads of spy agencies, They also warned in a public letter to Trump on Monday that the only way to recover the hostages is through an agreement with Hamas and that militarily there is nothing more that can be done in Gaza.And the families of the hostages, who on Saturday brought 60,000 people out onto the streets of Tel Aviv, denounce that the total occupation is a death sentence for the kidnapped on October 7, 2023. In this sense, before entering the meeting, the chief of staff of Israel, Eyal Zamir, also "declared against the occupation of the Strip, "since lives are at stake."