Protesters intensify the pressure against Netanyahu plan to expand the war in Gaza

Thousands of protesters took to the streets through Israel to oppose the government’s plan to expand its military operation in gas.

On Friday, Israel’s security cabinet approved five principles of ending war, which included “taking control of security” over the Gaza Strip, with Israeli military stating that it would “prepare for control” of Gaza.

Protesters, including family members of Gaza 50 hostages, 20 of whom are still thought to be alive, fear that the plan exposes the life of hostages and urged the government to secure its release.

Israeli leaders rejected criticism of his plan, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that “this will help us release our hostages.”

A group representing the hostages of the hostages said of X: “The expansion of combat threatens the hostages and soldiers – Israel’s people are reluctant to take the risk!”

A protestor Shakha, who gathers in Jerusalem on Saturday, told the BBC: “We want the war to end because our hostages are dying there and we need them all to be home now.”

“Whatever is necessary, we have to do it. And if we have to stop the war, we will stop the war.”

Among the protesters in Jerusalem was a former soldier who told the BBC that he was now refusing to serve. Max Kresh said he was a fighting soldier at the beginning of the war and “gave up since then.”

“We are over 350 soldiers who served during the war and refuse to continue to serve in the political war of Netanyahu, which threatens the hostages (s) starving innocent Palestinians in Gaza,” he said.

The Times of Israel reports that members of the hostage and protest family members in Tel Aviv near the Israeli Defense Force Headquarters (IDF) have called on other soldiers to refuse to serve in the extended military hostage protection operation.

The mother of one of the hostages has called for a common strike in Israel, although the country’s main labor union will not support it, according to Israel’s times.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also encountered a strong opposition to the chief of the army, Lieutenant Gen. Ael Zamir, who, according to Israeli media, warned the prime minister that a complete occupation of gas was “tantamount to trap” and would endanger the living hostages.

The polls suggest that the bigger part of the Israeli public prefer a deal with Hamas to liberate the hostages and the end of the war.

Netanyahu had told Fox News earlier this week that Israel plans to take the whole strip of Gaza and eventually “pass it on to Arab powers.”

“We will not occupy the gas – we will release Gaza from Hamas,” Netanyahu told X on Friday. “This will help to release our hostages and ensure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”

The plan of the Israeli Security Cabinet lists five “principles” for termination of war: disarming Hamas, return to all hostages, demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, taking over the control of security on the territory and establishing an “alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor Palestinian.”

The United Nations warned that a complete military absorption of Gaza would risk “catastrophic consequences” for Palestinian civilians and hostages.

Up to one million Palestinians live in the city of Gaza in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which was the most populated city of enclave before the war.

The United Kingdom, France, Canada and several other countries have condemned Israel’s decision and Germany that it will suspend its military exports to Israel in response.

The UN Security Council will meet on Sunday to discuss Israel’s plan.

Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after the attacks led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 61,300 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli military operations, says Hamas Health Ministry.