The Israeli daily Maariv reported Thursday that the Israeli army estimates a potential reoccupation of the Gaza Strip could lead to the death of all hostages and result in dozens of Israeli military fatalities and hundreds of injuries.
اضافة اعلان
The report indicated that Israel’s security establishment holds a particularly pessimistic view of the plan to reoccupy Gaza. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains adamant about implementing it and has recently outlined the specific method he envisions for executing the operation.
According to Maariv, Netanyahu is pushing for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip under pressure from far-right ministers in his government—namely Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Settlements Minister Orit Strock, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
In contrast, the military leadership prefers leveraging the current gains by conducting targeted encirclement operations and raids within Gaza.
Netanyahu’s vision reportedly involves large-scale incursions by brigades and divisions into the remaining 20% of Gaza that is not yet under Israeli control.
According to Israeli media outlets, including Israel Hayom and Maariv, the Israeli army currently controls between 75% and 80% of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Government Media Office stated on May 25 that Israel controls 77% of the besieged strip through what it described as “ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and systematic genocide,” in an attempt to forcibly redraw the population map.
Maariv warned that the areas targeted for occupation are densely populated and, according to Israeli intelligence, heavily mined and booby-trapped.
The paper noted that although Netanyahu envisions a swift operation to defeat Hamas and reoccupy Gaza, he has yet to outline a clear post-war plan, and the fate of the areas to be reoccupied remains uncertain.
“If this plan is driven by far-right ministers,” Maariv wrote, “then the aim of occupying Gaza is to expel its population and establish Israeli settlements on evacuated lands—an objective that was not part of the original war goals.”
The Israeli army is expected to present its estimate tonight of the high cost Israel would incur in a full-scale Gaza reoccupation.
The Israeli security cabinet is scheduled to meet Thursday evening to discuss the plan. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi opposes the operation, calling it a “strategic trap.”
According to Maariv, “army estimates suggest that most of the hostages—if not all—will be killed during the operation, either by their captors or due to stray Israeli fire.”
Tel Aviv believes that 50 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, about 20 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 10,800 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, where they reportedly suffer from torture, starvation, and medical neglect that has claimed numerous lives, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports.
The newspaper added: “The additional price of reoccupying Gaza would be dozens of Israeli soldiers killed and hundreds wounded, based on military estimates.”
Moreover, the report stated that the army believes advancing the occupation could take at least two to three months, while “clearing operations” could take another two years—a term interpreted as forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The army also warned that by the end of the operation, Israel would be obliged under international law to establish a military administration and assume responsibility for the 2.5 million residents of Gaza as an occupying power.
Maariv concluded that “the occupation of Gaza would impose a significant societal burden on Israel.”
The army estimates that this burden would involve the immediate large-scale mobilization of tens of thousands of reservists and the redeployment of all regular forces to resume combat in Gaza in the coming days.
According to Israeli media, internal divisions are deepening. Netanyahu is reportedly determined to reoccupy all of Gaza—including areas believed to be holding Israeli hostages—according to his office.
In contrast, the chief of staff proposes a strategy of encirclement across multiple axes in Gaza to increase military pressure on Hamas and force it to release the hostages.
On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Halevi described Netanyahu’s plan as a “strategic trap,” warning it would exhaust the army for years and endanger the hostages’ lives.
—(Anadolu)
