‘A disaster’: Opposition, world leaders, families of hostages blast Gaza City takeover plan

Opposition leaders, families of hostages held in Gaza, and various international actors all issued swift condemnations Friday to the security cabinet’s decision to take over Gaza City.

Overnight, the high-level body approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take over the densely populated city, bucking warnings from the Israel Defense Forces that the operation risks the lives of the remaining hostages in addition to potentially sparking a humanitarian disaster.

The limitation of the takeover to Gaza City did not seem to go as far as what had earlier been characterized as a plan to occupy the entirety of the Strip. Netanyahu told Fox News hours before the security cabinet convened that a full takeover was his intention.

However, a statement from Netanyahu’s office notably described the adopted proposal as one aimed at “defeating Hamas,” meaning that there may be subsequent operations beyond the one for Gaza City that were approved and not announced.

Opposition figures charged that the step would lead to the deaths of Israeli captives and soldiers.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called the move “a disaster that will lead to many more disasters,” in a post on X, adding that it was made in “complete contradiction to the opinion of the military and security ranks.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich “dragged” Netanyahu “into a move that will take months, lead to the deaths of the hostages, the killing of many soldiers, cost tens of billions to the Israeli taxpayer, and lead to a political collapse,” Lapid added.

“This is exactly what Hamas wanted: for Israel to 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,” he said.

Yisrael Beytenu party chairman and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman said that the decision “proves that life-and-death decisions are being made in opposition to security considerations and the war’s objectives.”

“The prime minister of October 7 is once again sacrificing the security of Israeli citizens for the sake of his seat,” he added.

Blue and White-National Unity party chairman Benny Gantz also criticized the plan, calling it a “political failure that wastes the tremendous achievements of the IDF.”

In a post on X, Gantz suggested an alternative plan to achieve the war’s stated goals of destroying Hamas and returning the hostages: “It can be done differently: First, announce that in exchange for the return of the hostages, we will be willing to agree to a permanent ceasefire.”

“The problem with this government is that it is slow, not determined, does not seize opportunities when they arise, and is not creative,” Gantz said. “We already entered Gaza with divisions despite Netanyahu’s fears, we already entered Khan Younis and Rafah despite Netanyahu delaying it. We will know how to do it in the future as well. But the question is, what have we done since then? Only waste time and military achievements.”

“We talked all the time about the day after — and Netanyahu did not act. Israel deserves leadership that seizes opportunities, not leadership that does not strive with all its might to return the hostages and defeat Hamas,” he added.

Yair Golan, head of The Democrats party, said the decision means that “more hostages will be abandoned to their deaths,” and that the move was typical of Netanyahu: “He is weak, easily pressured, lacking decision-making ability, and without the capacity to bridge between what the professional level presents and the group of messianists controlling the government.”

The decision is “a disaster for generations,” Golan said.

“Our sons and grandsons will still patrol the alleys of Gaza, we will pay hundreds of billions over the years, and all this for reasons of political survival and messianic visions,” he added, asking how the government planned to demilitarize the Strip: “Are we going to crawl through tunnels and retrieve the last Kalashnikovs?”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a scathing reaction to the decision to conquer Gaza City, where some of the captives are believed to be held.

“Tonight, the Israeli government sentenced the living hostages to death and the fallen hostages to disappearance,” it alleged in a statement.

“The cabinet decision to launch the process of occupying the Strip is an official declaration of the abandonment of the hostages, while completely ignoring the repeated warnings by the military echelon and the clear desire of most of the public in Israel,” it continued.

The statement accused the government of acting against the national interest with a “foolish” move of “deception and unforgivable moral and security neglect” that brings Israel closer to a “colossal disaster for the hostages and [IDF] fighters.”

The Forum added, however, that it was not too late and that the step could be stopped by reaching a comprehensive deal to end the war and return all the captives.