{"id":507733,"date":"2026-01-11T04:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507733\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T04:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:42:14","slug":"israel-planning-new-gaza-city-op-in-march-but-will-need-okay-from-trump-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/507733\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel planning new Gaza City op in March, but will need okay from Trump &#8212; officials"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Israel Defense Forces has drawn up plans to launch renewed intensive military operations in Gaza in March, with an offensive targeting Gaza City aimed at pushing the Yellow Line ceasefire demarcation west toward the coast of the enclave, further expanding the IDF\u2019s control of the territory, an Israeli official and an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The Arab diplomat said that the operation will not be able to go forward without the support of the US, which is still trying to advance the fragile ceasefire reached in October to a second phase that includes Hamas\u2019s disarmament.<\/p>\n<p>While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed during his meeting with Trump last month to cooperate with efforts to advance the ceasefire, he does not believe that they will be successful in disarming Hamas and has accordingly directed the IDF to prepare for a contingency plan, the Arab diplomat said.<\/p>\n<p>On the first day of the ceasefire on October 10, Israeli forces pulled back to the Yellow Line, leaving them in control of roughly 53 percent of the Strip. The Gaza City operation planned for March would see Israel increase that percentage, the Israeli official and Arab diplomat said.<\/p>\n<p>Some details of this planned offensive were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/middle-east\/israel-hamas-gaza-war-5f1b0548\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first reported<\/a> by The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Erez Winner, a research fellow at the Israel Centre for Grand Strategy, told The Journal that an offensive against Hamas would now be easier for Israel because Israel no longer has to worry about putting hostages at risk, now that all the living hostages and all but one hostage\u2019s body have been returned.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26009334915406.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3730566\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26009334915406-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tPalestinians inspect damaged tents at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jehad Alshrafi)<\/p>\n<p>He added that it would also be easier for Israel to evacuate Palestinians because most of them are living in tents, with one possibility being to bring them to the Israeli-controlled part of the enclave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[A new round of fighting in Gaza] will be much faster and easier than people want to believe,\u201d he told The Journal. \u201cIt\u2019s adjusting plans we already have to the current situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Possible strategies mentioned by The Journal include an Israeli takeover of Gaza City to induce Hamas to quickly surrender or a slower, piece-by-piece takeover of the entire enclave.<\/p>\n<p>Since the ceasefire, Israel has been launching regular strikes and attacks targeting what it says are terror operatives who breached the ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, the IDF said it killed three operatives in separate incidents across the Strip after they crossed the Yellow Line and approached Israeli troops, posing what the military described as an immediate threat.<\/p>\n<p>According to the army, forces from the 188th Armored Brigade operating in southern Gaza identified three suspects who breached the ceasefire line. One of the suspects allegedly attempted to steal IDF equipment before fleeing, and was later killed in an Air Force strike on the Hamas-controlled side of the Yellow Line.<\/p>\n<p>In two additional incidents in northern Gaza, troops from the Gaza Division\u2019s Northern Brigade and the Jerusalem Brigade identified other suspects who had also crossed the Yellow Line and moved toward Israeli forces. The soldiers opened fire, killing two of them, the IDF said.<\/p>\n<p>The military said its Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in accordance with the existing terms of the ceasefire and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat.<\/p>\n<p>Stav Levaton contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tIs accurate Israel coverage important to you?\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>If so, we have a request.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for <strong>fact-based<\/strong> coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>We care about Israel &#8211; and we know you do too.<\/strong> So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by <strong>joining The Times of Israel Community<\/strong>, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=value_our_work&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tI&#8217;m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=value_our_work&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-mobile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tI&#8217;m with you and will give\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"crm_under_btn_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-in\" rel=\"noopener\">Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/DH-new-headshot-circular.png\" class=\"attachment-square_large size-square_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"crm-article-popup__counter-wrap\" style=\"display:none\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read <strong> X Times of Israel articles<\/strong> in the past month.&#13;\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your support is essential to continue our work.<\/strong> We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.<\/p>\n<p>So today, please consider joining our reader support group, <strong>The Times of Israel Community<\/strong>. For as little as $6 a month you&#8217;ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel <strong>AD-FREE<\/strong>, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you,<br \/>David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dhmatters&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dhmatters&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-mobile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"crm_under_btn_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-in\" rel=\"noopener\">Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israel Defense Forces has drawn up plans to launch renewed intensive military operations in Gaza in March,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":507734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-507733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115874637044929237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507733","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=507733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}