Tel Aviv (Israel), August 8 (HBTV): Israel's security cabinet on Friday approved a plan from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy Gaza City, the Prime Minister's Office said, The Times of Israel reported.

According to The Times of Israel, Israel will provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside combat zones, the PMO said in a statement outlining the cabinet’s decision to back Netanyahu’s proposal ‘to defeat Hamas’.

The Israeli cabinet approved a list of five principles to be upheld in exchange for ending the conflict.

As per The Times of Israel, the principles include: the disarmament of Hamas; the return of all 50 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive; the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip; Israeli security control over the Gaza Strip; and the establishment of an alternative civilian government that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.

An overwhelming majority of ministers concluded that the alternative plan presented to the security cabinet would not have ensured Hamas’s defeat or the hostages’ return, the PMO said.

The statement did not elaborate on the alternative plan, but it appeared to refer to a proposal presented by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who has voiced opposition to occupying the Gaza Strip due to fears it would trigger a humanitarian disaster and endanger the lives of the hostages.

It remains unclear why the statement referred only to conquering Gaza City and not the entire Gaza Strip, which Netanyahu said on Thursday was his broader plan, according to The Times of Israel.

Gaza City constitutes roughly 25 per cent of the Gaza Strip and, along with several refugee camps in central Gaza, remains outside Israeli control.

It is also unclear whether those remaining areas beyond Gaza City will be included in the occupation plan authorised by the security cabinet. (ANI)