Israel Resumes War in Gaza With Plan To Conquer Strip JERUSALEM—When Israel’s defense minister on Friday threatened to take the Gaza Strip from Hamas piece by piece, he was not just saber-rattling.
Rather, Israel Katz was describing a war plan that already appeared to be underway. Amid airstrikes across Gaza starting early Tuesday, Israeli ground forces on Wednesday retook much of the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza and on Thursday entered the cities of Beit Lahiya in the north of the strip and Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, according to military officials.
"If the Hamas terror organization continues to refuse to release the hostages, I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to capture additional areas, evacuate the population, and expand the security zone around Gaza … through permanent control of the area by Israel," Katz said in a statement. "The longer Hamas continues its refusal, the more and more land it will lose that will be added to Israel."
Katz specified that Hamas must release all the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza, 24 of them presumed alive, as part of a temporary U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement. He added that Israel "will intensify the fighting" and expand the ground campaign in Gaza "until the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated" while also advancing President Donald Trump’s idea of a "voluntary transfer" of Gaza’s population abroad.
According to current and former Israeli officials, Katz’s threats are backed by a military plan to conquer Gaza that he and other government leaders first approved two weeks ago and gave the final go-ahead on Monday, ending a two-month ceasefire in the strip. As the Washington Free Beacon first reported, the plan calls for Israel to resume the war with airstrikes and quickly escalate to a ground invasion designed to isolate, starve, and kill Hamas terrorists.
Amir Avivi, a former Israeli brigadier general who has advised Israel’s government and the military during the war, said the "plan is built in stages where Israel is trying to pressure Hamas to release the hostages."
"We might see two scenarios," Avivi told the Free Beacon. "Either at a certain stage Hamas is willing to release the hostages, and we’ll see another ceasefire, or Hamas is not willing to negotiate and release the hostages, and this attack will escalate into a full-scale assault on Gaza, which will only end with Israel reaching the goals of the war."
Avivi said "everything is coordinated" with the Trump administration. Trump has voiced full-throated support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, ordered an ongoing campaign of airstrikes against the Hamas-aligned Houthis in Yemen, and warned off Iran, a patron of both terrorist groups.
Current and former officials said that following any new ceasefire in Gaza, Israel would continue with the plan at least until Hamas surrenders.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that, "Israel will fight, and Israel will win."................
https://www.conservativereview.com/israel-resumes-war-in-gaza-with-plan-to-conquer-entire-strip-2671383011.html
