ISTANBUL

Israel's Security Cabinet has approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take control of Gaza City, the Prime Minister’s Office said Friday on X.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones," it said.

In addition, the Security Cabinet approved five key principles for concluding the war: dismantling the Palestinian group Hamas, securing the return of all hostages—both alive and deceased—demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, ensuring Israeli security control over the area, and establishing a civilian government not led by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

"A decisive majority of Security Cabinet ministers believed that the alternative plan that had been submitted to the Security Cabinet would neither achieve the defeat of Hamas nor the return of the hostages," it added.

"The security cabinet approved the prime minister's proposal to defeat Hamas. The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," Axios reporter Barak Ravid earlier said, citing the Prime Minister's Office.

According to Ynet, the statement avoided using the word “occupation,” opting instead for “takeover” to sidestep potential legal consequences concerning the civilian population.

According to KAN News, the meeting lasted about 10 hours.

Following the Cabinet’s decision, a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that the military would initially “target the terrorist strongholds in the city,” with operations eventually expanding to include the central refugee camps.

The entire operation is expected to last at least six months.