Israeli prime minister decides to fully occupy Gaza: Local media

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs meeting as the Israeli Security Cabinet gather to approve a cease-fire agreement and a prisoner swap deal with Hamas, in West Jerusalem on January 17, 2025. [Photo by Koby Gideon (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to fully occupy the Gaza Strip and expand military operations in the enclave, local media said on Monday evening.

“The die is cast — we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip,” a senior official close to Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

“There will be operations even in areas where hostages are being held. If the IDF (army) chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign.”

Israeli Channel 12 said the decision signals a major shift in Israel’s Gaza strategy, with operations now expected in densely populated areas, including central refugee camps.

The public broadcaster KAN, citing ministers who recently spoke with Netanyahu, said the premier decided to broaden military operations in Gaza despite opposition from the security establishment.

Yedioth Ahronoth claimed that US President Donald Trump had given Netanyahu a “green light” to proceed with the expanded assault.

READ: 1,500 killed while seeking aid in Gaza since May: UN

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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel's Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don't do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.
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Irish president urges UN to intervene in Gaza, citing ‘destruction of an entire people’

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Michael D.Higgins, the Ireland President, on February 11, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland [David Rogers/Getty Images]

Irish President Michael D. Higgins has called on the UN to take urgent action in Gaza, asking Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to invoke powers under Chapter Seven to bypass Security Council gridlock and deliver humanitarian aid, Anadolu reports.

In a video shared by RTE News, he described the crisis as the “incredible, incredible destruction of an entire people.”

“Are we to watch children starving, women dehydrated, or trying to feed their children? So something must happen,” he said.

President Higgins expressed support for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to invoke powers under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter—a mechanism that allows for enforcement action, including the use of force, without Security Council approval if deemed necessary.

READ: ‘Unimaginable’ hunger: US doctor in Gaza reports children starving to death due to Israeli blockade

“I am personally in favor of the secretary-general of the UN using Chapter Seven procedure, by which, whether or not the Security Council agrees, and even if there’s a blockage, the right exists for the secretary-general to seek to put together an international defense of a corridor,” he said.

Referring to blocked humanitarian aid, Higgins added: “There are 6,000 trucks with enough food for three months, and it has been blocked, and it is outrageous.”

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

READ: UN: 96% of Gaza households face water insecurity

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Continue ReadingIrish president urges UN to intervene in Gaza, citing ‘destruction of an entire people’

EU commissioner urges Israel to end starvation policy in Gaza

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A child tries to collect flour on ground as Palestinians, struggling with hunger, receive limited amount of flour at humanitarian aid distribution point at Zikim border crossing in Gaza on August 1, 2025. [Anas Zeyad Fteha – Anadolu Agency]

The European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, on Sunday called on the Israeli occupation authorities to stop using starvation as a weapon against civilians in the Gaza Strip and to allow wide and effective access to humanitarian aid.

In a post on her X account, Lahbib described the humanitarian suffering in Gaza as “shattering.”

She emphasised that the continued denial of food and medicine to the population constitutes a serious violation of humanitarian principles.

The EU commissioner stressed the importance of adhering to humanitarian principles in responding to the crisis, stating: “Humanity must prevail.”

She called on Israel to “end its starvation of Gaza and to allow for an effective delivery of humanitarian aid at scale.”

Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, ongoing with full US support since October 2023, has resulted in approximately 208,000 Palestinians being killed or injured — most of them women and children. Over 9,000 people remain missing, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced, with many reportedly dying from famine.

READ: 6 more die of Israel-induced starvation in Gaza, taking death toll to 175

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Continue ReadingEU commissioner urges Israel to end starvation policy in Gaza

Hamas: Netanyahu trying to end captives’ case by starving them

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A group of people, gathered at Habima Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, stage a demonstration demanding the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza on August 2, 2025. [Saeed Qaq – Anadolu Agency]

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to “end the issue of the captives held in Gaza by starving them to death after failing to locate and kill them through bombing.”

In a statement published on Telegram, al-Rishq expressed regret that “hunger has reached the Israeli captives,” but held “Netanyahu and his Nazi-like government fully responsible,” accusing them of launching “a starvation and thirst war against our people, the effects of which have now reached their captives.”

On Friday, al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, released footage of Israeli captive Evyatar David, who appeared severely underweight due to what was described as Israel’s ongoing starvation policy in Gaza.

Similarly, on Thursday, al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, released a video it said was the last footage of captive Rom Braslavski before contact was lost with the group holding him. In the video, Braslavski appeared to be in an extremely frail physical condition, allegedly due to the starvation imposed by Israel on Gaza.

Commenting on this, al-Rishq said, “Our resistance fighters treat their captives according to our religious teachings and human values. They feed them from what they eat and give them water from what they drink, just as all our people do.”

READ: Netanyahu asks Red Cross to help care for Israeli captives in Gaza

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Continue ReadingHamas: Netanyahu trying to end captives’ case by starving them

Former Israeli security chiefs warn: Israel on verge of defeat, Gaza war must end now

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An Israeli army soldier walks near a main battle tank deployed at a position along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on July 29, 2025. [Jack GUEZ / AFP/Getty Images]

Pressure to end the war intensified further on Sunday evening, as a large group of former senior security officials launched a campaign calling for the Gaza war to stop immediately.

The group included former heads of key Israeli security bodies from past decades, such as former Chiefs of Staff, police commissioners, and former heads of Shin Bet, Mossad, and Military Intelligence.

They warned that Israel is now “on the verge of defeat”, stressing that the war could have ended yesterday and that all hostages in Gaza could have been released in one go.

In a video lasting over three minutes, recorded in recent days during a meeting of those former senior officials, the group presents its arguments for an immediate ceasefire.

In the video, the former military leaders say: “Together, we hold over a thousand years of experience. It is our duty to speak up and say what must be said: we are on the verge of defeat.”

READ: Netanyahu asks Red Cross to help care for Israeli captives in Gaza

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Continue ReadingFormer Israeli security chiefs warn: Israel on verge of defeat, Gaza war must end now