Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will propose the complete takeover and occupation of the Gaza Strip at a Security Council meeting.

"The die is cast. We are moving towards complete conquest of the Gaza Strip and the destruction of Hamas," a senior government official was quoted as saying by the Israeli press.

The chief of the general staff and other military leaders oppose the plan, but the same source said: "If the chief of staff doesn't like it, he should resign."

The families of the hostages fear that such actions will put their loved ones in even greater danger. It is believed that 20 of the 50 hostages are still alive in Gaza. Public opinion polls show that three-quarters of Israelis favor a truce that would lead to the release of the hostages.

Many of Israel's close allies would condemn such a move, insisting on an end to the war and urgent humanitarian action.

In Israel itself, hundreds of retired security officials, including former intelligence agency heads, sent a joint letter to US President Donald Trump calling on him to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.

One of the signatories, former internal intelligence chief Ami Ayalon, told the BBC that further military action would be futile. "From a military point of view, Hamas is completely defeated. But as an ideology, it is gaining strength among Palestinians, on the streets of the Arab world and in the Muslim world in general. The only way to defeat this ideology is by offering a better future."

This development follows the failure of mediated negotiations with Hamas for a truce and hostage exchange, as well as the release of three videos by Palestinian armed groups showing two Israeli hostages in serious physical condition.

The footage of Rom Blasslavski and Evyatar David, kidnapped from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, shocked the Israeli public. In one of the videos, David is digging, as he says, his own grave in an underground tunnel. | BGNES