Tánaiste Simon Harris has described as “alarming” the reports of a planned extension of military operations by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Mr Harris, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Monday that “such a move would result in further deaths, casualties and untold suffering for the Palestinian population who already face a dire humanitarian situation.”
His comments follow a decision by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu‘s security cabinet voting to scale up the offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza to the point of seizing the entire enclave and holding its territories, an Israeli official said on Monday.
The cabinet unanimously approved a plan to expand military operations in Gaza and to call up tens of thousands of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists.
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The expanded military campaign will entail seizing territory in Gaza and remaining there; moving the Gazan population south, denying Hamas the ability to distribute humanitarian supplies and carrying out powerful strikes against militants.
Urging the Israeli authorities to “exercise restraint”, Mr Harris said “what is happening to the people of Gaza is despicable and unconscionable. This is a humanitarian catastrophe.
“We need to see an immediate cessation of hostilities, release of remaining hostages and the resumption of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza.”
A report by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, citing officials with knowledge of the details, said the new plan was gradual and would take months, with forces focusing first on one area of the battered enclave.
Such a timeline could leave the door open for a ceasefire and hostage release deal talks in advance of a visit by US president Donald Trump to the region next week, according to security cabinet minister Zeev Elkin.
“There is still a window of opportunity until President Trump concludes his visit to the Middle East, if Hamas understands we are serious,” Elkin told Kan on Monday.
Already in control of about a third of Gaza’s territory, Israel resumed ground operations in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months. It has since imposed a total blockade of aid into the enclave.
Elkin said that rather than launching raids in specific areas and then leaving them as the military had done so far, the Israeli forces will now hold the territories they seize, until Hamas is defeated or agrees to disarm and leave Gaza.
Hamas has ruled out such calls. Israel has yet to present a clear vision for postwar Gaza as it faces international pressure to end a campaign that has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and left it depending on aid supplies that have been dwindling rapidly since the blockade.
The Israeli official said that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas hands, though the blockade will not be lifted yet.
The United Nations on Sunday rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
On Monday, Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said on X that Israel was demanding that the UN and non-governmental organisations shut down their aid distribution system in Gaza.
“They want to manipulate and militarise all aid to civilians, forcing us to deliver supplies through hubs designed by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to reopen crossings. NRC will stand by our humanitarian principles and will, with all our peers, refuse to take part in this new scheme.”
Israel’s chief of staff Lieut Gen Eyal Zamir said on Sunday that the military has already begun issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders for its reserve forces, looking to expand the Gaza campaign. He later warned ministers that aid must be let into Gaza soon, according to Kan.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels said late on Sunday they would impose a “comprehensive” aerial blockade on Israel by repeatedly targeting its airports, in response to Israel expanding its operations in Gaza.
The Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for a missile strike on Sunday that hit near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, the latest in a string of attacks, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.
Most attacks from Yemen have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defence systems, though a drone strike hit Tel Aviv last year. Sunday’s missile was the only one of a series launched since March that was not intercepted.
The Houthis’ Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, a body set up last year to liaise between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators, issued the warning about targeting Israeli airports, saying Ben Gurion Airport would be the top target.
The statement attached an email it said was sent to the International Air Transport Association, the global airlines body, and the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Houthi forces called “upon all international airlines to take this announcement into serious consideration ... and to cancel all their flights to the airports of the criminal Israeli enemy, in order to safeguard the safety of their aircraft and passengers,” the email said.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel, that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza in the deadliest day for Israel in its history.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to local health authorities, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
Up to 24 of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be alive. Families fear that the fighting will endanger their loved ones while critics say Israel risks being drawn into a long guerrilla war with limited gains and no clear strategy.
Successive surveys have shown dwindling public support for the war among Israelis, many of whom prefer to see a ceasefire deal reached and more hostages released.
Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that will end the war and see Israeli forces withdraw from all of Gaza. – Additional reporting from Reuters
