Trump doesn't oppose Netanyahu plan for full Gaza occupation: U.S. officials
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Palestinians carry aid supplies last week in northern Gaza. Photo: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump does not oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to launch a new military operation to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
Why it matters: The Israeli Security Cabinet is expected to approve on Thursday a highly controversial plan to expand the war. According to the sources, Trump has decided not to intervene and to let the Israeli government make its own decisions.
The big picture: The new operation to occupy additional areas of central Gaza, including Gaza City, is expected to take at least several months and involve displacing around 1 million Palestinian civilians.
- The Israel Defense Forces would also be moving into areas where Israel believes hostages are being held, possibly risking their lives.
- Netanyahu is poised to escalate the war despite massive international pressure to stop the fighting and prioritize the humanitarian crisis in the enclave — and over the objections of his own top generals.
What they're saying: Two U.S. officials tell Axios Trump won't intervene in the Israeli decision-making around the new operation.
- When asked on Tuesday about a possible Israeli full occupation of Gaza, Trump said: "I really can't say. It is going to be pretty much up to Israel."
- Netanyahu and his aides claim Hamas isn't interested in signing a comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal on terms Israel can accept, and that only military pressure can change that.
- "We are not willing to remain in the current limbo and we are not willing to surrender to Hamas' demands — so essentially only one option is left, to take a drastic step. This is the last card we have left," a Netanyahu aide told Axios.
Behind the scenes: One U.S. official said Trump was moved by the video released by Hamas of an Israeli hostage digging his own grave.
- "It influenced the president, and he is going to let the Israelis do what they need to do," the official said.
- At the same time, the U.S. official said the Trump administration doesn't support Israeli annexation of parts of Gaza — another possibility discussed by Israeli officials.
Between the lines: The IDF has been reluctant to attack the areas in Gaza that the new plan focuses on for fear of accidentally killing hostages.
- According to Israeli officials, IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir told Netanyahu such a move would endanger the hostages and could lead to Israeli military rule in Gaza with full responsibility over 2 million Palestinians.
- "You are walking into a trap," Zamir told Netanyahu in a meeting on Tuesday, according to multiple reports in the Israeli press.
- It appears that Netanyahu was unmoved.
Split screen: The White House plans to focus in the coming weeks on addressing the starvation crisis in Gaza, though the expansion of the war would make that more difficult.
- In a meeting Monday evening at the White House, Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed plans for the U.S. to significantly increase its role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.
- "The United States remains committed to helping alleviate the situation in Gaza and is supportive of efforts to increase humanitarian aid. However, the United States is not 'taking over' the aid effort," a U.S. official told Axios.
What to watch: The Trump administration plans to increase its funding to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in order to open new aid centers in parts of Gaza to which displaced Palestinians will be relocated, both in north and central Gaza, sources say.
- U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Bloomberg that the U.S. plans to quadruple the number of GHF aid centers from 4 to 16.
- Aid groups and the UN have urged Trump to press Netanyahu to massively increase aid under the previous channels that Israel has largely shut down, rather than focusing on building up GHF.
