told ministers<\/a> this week that he will seek cabinet backing for a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, despite objections from within the IDF. Zamir was said to have opposed the plan, sparking anger against the IDF chief from Netanyahu loyalists, with unnamed senior officials calling on him to resign if he didn\u2019t like his orders.<\/p>\n\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/F250802AVS107-e1754164813895-640x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Hostage families and their supporters rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on August 2, 2025. The screen shows, from right to left, pictures of hostage Evyatar David before his abduction; in a propaganda video from February 2025; and in a propaganda video from July 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
Following the meeting, an unnamed source familiar with the talks told the Kan public broadcaster that Netanyahu is heavily leaning toward occupying the Palestinian enclave. Other Hebrew-language news outlets, including Ynet and i24 News, carried similar reports, all quoting anonymous sources.<\/p>\n
One source told Kan that the government is aware that the military campaign to gain full control over Gaza will likely endanger the remaining hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.<\/p>\n
The report said that the IDF and the defense establishment remain opposed to the plan, in part because it puts the hostages in danger of being executed by their captors should troops approach where they are being held.<\/p>\n
The IDF currently holds control over approximately 75 percent of the Gaza Strip, but under the new plan, the military would be expected to occupy the remaining territory as well, bringing the entire enclave under Israeli control.<\/p>\n
The military has largely refrained from operating in certain areas where it is believed that the hostages are held. Hamas has repeatedly said it will execute them if it believes Israeli forces are closing in.<\/p>\n
It is also unclear what such a move would mean for the Strip\u2019s millions of civilians and humanitarian groups operating in the enclave.<\/p>\n
Earlier Tuesday, reports of Zamir\u2019s reluctance drew sharp condemnations from the far-right and Netanyahu loyalists, including his son.<\/p>\n
Ben Gvir urged Zamir to publicly commit to carrying out the orders of elected officials, even if they decide on the occupation of the Strip<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WhatsApp_Image_2025-07-23_at_16.39.31_1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with officers at an army base, July 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chief of staff must say clearly that he will fully carry out the orders of the political echelon, even if it\u2019s decided to go for full conquest and a clear result,\u201d Ben Gvir said in a post on X.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s eldest son, Yair, also took to social media from his home in Miami to lambaste Zamir in a series of posts on X, and implied the IDF chief was trying to lead a military rebellion against his father.<\/p>\n
He claimed Zamir was only appointed to his position because Defense Minister Katz insisted on the choice.<\/p>\n
He also seemed to imply that Zamir secretly dictated a post on X\u00a0 by Yedioth Aharonoth military correspondent Yossi Yehoshua, in which the journalist criticized Netanyahu\u2019s reported plan to occupy Gaza.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/F221129AVS68-1-e1744723431972-640x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Yair Netanyahu arrives for a court hearing in Tel Aviv on November 29, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni\/ Flash90\/ File)<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Netanyahu really is interested in making the really dramatic and divisive decision among the Israeli public \u2014 the occupation of Gaza City and the central camps \u2014 he needs to stand before the nation, clarify the expected price to the lives of the hostages and soldiers who will fall, and declare that he takes full responsibility, despite the IDF\u2019s opposition,\u201d Yehoshua wrote.<\/p>\n
Yair Netanyahu replied: \u201cIf whoever dictated to you that tweet is who we think, this is a rebellion and attempted military coup fit for a banana republic in Central America during the 70s. This is completely criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n
And even the defense minister appeared to issue a veiled attempt to pressure Zamir into backing down.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the political leadership makes the necessary decisions, the military echelon, as it has done in all fronts of war so far, will professionally implement the determined policy,\u201d Katz said during a visit to an IDF post in the Gaza buffer zone on Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cMy role as the defense minister in charge of the IDF is to ensure that this will be the case, and that is what I will do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katz said he had formulated his positions \u201cregarding the security and political steps Israel must take to ensure the achievement of the war\u2019s objectives,\u201d\u00a0 and would present them to Netanyahu and cabinet ministers at the meeting later in the day.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-08-05-at-12.58.16-e1754388552680.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Defense Minister Israel Katz visits an IDF post in the Gaza Strip buffer zone, August 5, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni\/Defense Ministry)<\/p>\n
Speaking publicly, during a meeting with\u00a0new recruits to the IDF\u2019s Armored Corps and Combat Engineering Corps at the main military induction base in central Israel, Netanyahu reiterated the three stated aims of the war, without mentioning the prospect of conquering Gaza entirely.<\/p>\n
He told troops that there is \u201cstill a need to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, to release all our hostages and to ensure that Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zamir, however, received support from the opposition and from Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar, the sole government minister to back\u00a0him publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chief of staff is required to express his professional opinion clearly and unequivocally to the political echelon. I am convinced that he will do so,\u201d Saar wrote on X. \u201cHe is not required to clarify the subordination of the military echelon to the government\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reports of Netanyahu\u2019s dispute with Zamir prompted objections from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who insisted that such disagreements must remain \u201cbehind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIDF soldiers should not think that a divided and conflicted leadership is leading them, that the political echelon does not respect their commander, that they are selling them out for a headline,\u201d Lapid wrote on X.<\/p>\n
He added that an \u201coperational price\u201d exists for such leaks, since they could dissuade the IDF chief from voicing his opinion if he thinks it may make it to the press.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/F250723YS02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid on the plenum floor of the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 23, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
Blue and White-National Unity chairman Benny Gantz condemned cabinet ministers\u2019 \u201cunrestrained attacks\u201d against Zamir.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the State of Israel, the chief of staff is subordinate to the political echelon, as it has always been and will be, but he is not a puppet on a string or a rubber stamp,\u201d Gantz posted. \u201cInstead of threatening and whining, perhaps it\u2019s worth internalizing: The problem lies with the political echelon, not the military one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The war began with the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage. Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 60,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/92241e34-dbfb-41a2-b6e8-be39a6ac94f5-e1754382059637-640x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, in an image published on August 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n
Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza\u2019s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 459. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior security officials on Tuesday to hammer out Gaza war plans, and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":121476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-121475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114977436185663339","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}