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Netanyahu Says New Gaza Offensive Will Be Intensive After Israel Approves Expanded Operation Against Hamas
Israeli tanks are positioned near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, March 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that a new offensive in Gaza will be an intensive military operation aimed at defeating Hamas, but stopped short of detailing just how much of the enclave’s territory would be seized.
“Population will be moved, for its own protection,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on X. He said Israeli soldiers won’t go into Gaza, launch raids, and then retreat. “The intention is the opposite of that,” he said.
Netanyahu’s social media post came after his security cabinet on Monday approved an expanded offensive against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in which Israel may seize the Gaza Strip and control aid.
An Israeli defense official said it would not be launched before US President Donald Trump concludes his visit next week to the Middle East.
The decision, after weeks of faltering efforts to agree a ceasefire with Hamas, underlines the prospect that the war could continue with no end in sight.
A government spokesman told journalists online that reserve soldiers were being called up to expand operations in Gaza, not to occupy it.
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.
Israeli troops have already taken over an area amounting to around a third of the Gaza Strip, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones, but the new plan would go further.
One Israeli government official said the newly approved offensive would seize the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, move its civilian population southward, and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas hands.
The defense official said aid distribution, which has been handled by international aid groups and UN organizations, would be transferred to private companies and handed out in the southern area of Rafah once the offensive begins.
The Israeli military, which throughout the war has shown little appetite for occupying Gaza, declined to comment on the remarks by government officials and politicians.
Israel resumed its offensive in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months. It has since imposed a blockade of aid into the enclave.
The Israeli defense official said that Israel would hold on to security zones seized along the Gaza perimeter because they were vital for protecting Israeli communities around the enclave.
But he said there was a “window of opportunity” for a ceasefire and hostage release deal during a visit by Trump to the region next week.
“If there is no hostage deal, Operation “Gideon Chariots” will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all its goals are achieved,” he said.
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi rejected what he called “pressure and blackmail.”
“No deal except a comprehensive one, which includes a complete ceasefire, full withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and the release of all prisoners from both sides,” he said.
Israel has yet to present a clear vision for post-war Gaza after a campaign that has displaced most of the enclave’s population and left it depending on aid supplies that have been dwindling since the blockade.
Experts and Israeli officials have long said that Hamas steals much of the aid to fuel its terrorist operations and sells some of the remainder to Gaza’s civilian population at an increased price. Ministers have also said that aid distribution cannot be left to international organizations, which it accuses of allowing Hamas to seize supplies intended for the civilian population.
Instead, officials have looked at plans for private contractors to handle distribution, through what the United Nations has 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 organizations shut down their aid distribution system in Gaza.
However, the decision to expand the operation was immediately hailed by Israeli government hardliners who have long pressed for a full takeover of the Gaza Strip by Israel and a permanent displacement of the population, along the line of the “Riviera” plans outlined by Trump in February.
“We are finally going to conquer Gaza. We are no longer afraid of the word ‘occupation’,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a pro-settler conference in an online discussion.
However, with Israel facing threats from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, who on Sunday fired a missile that hit close to Ben Gurion Airport, an unstable Syria next door, and a volatile situation in the West Bank, the capacity for prolonged military operations faces constraints.
Israel‘s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General 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.
Zamir, who took office in March, has pushed back against calls by government hardliners who want to choke off aid entirely and has told ministers aid must be let in soon, according to Kan.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza in the deadliest day for Israel in its history.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hama’s military and governing capabilities in Gaza.
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.
The post Netanyahu Says New Gaza Offensive Will Be Intensive After Israel Approves Expanded Operation Against Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Sanctions on Iran to Be Reimposed, France’s Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
European powers will likely reimpose international sanctions on Iran by the end of the month after their latest round of talks with Tehran aimed at preventing them were deemed not serious, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Britain, France, and Germany, the so-called E3, launched a 30-day process at the end of August to reimpose UN sanctions. They set conditions for Tehran to meet during September to convince them to delay the “snapback mechanism.”
The offer by the E3 to put off the snapback for up to six months to enable serious negotiations is conditional on Iran restoring access for UN nuclear inspectors – who would also seek to account for Iran‘s large stock of enriched uranium – and engaging in talks with the US.
When asked in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 whether the snapback was a done deal, Macron said:
“Yes. I think so because the latest news from the Iranians is not serious.”
E3 foreign ministers, the European Union foreign policy chief, and their Iranian counterpart held a phone call on Wednesday, in which diplomats on both sides said there had been no substantial progress, though the door was still open to try and reach a deal before the deadline expired.
The 15-member UN Security Council will vote on Friday on a resolution that would permanently lift UN sanctions on Iran – a move it is required to take after the E3 launched the process.
The resolution is likely to fail to get the minimum nine votes needed to pass, say diplomats, and if it did it would be vetoed by the United States, Britain, or France.
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UAE Could Downgrade but Won’t Cut Diplomatic Ties if Israel Annexes West Bank, Sources Say
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-US President Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed display their copies of signed agreements as they participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Middle East neighbors, in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries against Iran, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner
The United Arab Emirates could downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government annexes part or all of the West Bank, but it is not considering the option of severing them completely, according to three sources briefed on the Gulf Arab state’s deliberations.
The UAE is one of just a few Arab states with diplomatic relations with Israel and downgrading ties would be a major setback for the Abraham Accords – a signature foreign policy achievement of US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.
Israel‘s government has recently taken steps that could presage annexation of the West Bank, which was captured from Jordan along with East Jerusalem in a war in 1967. The United Nations and most countries oppose such a move.
For Netanyahu, whose coalition relies in part on right-wing nationalist parties, annexation could be seen as a valuable vote winner before an election expected next year.
NOT ALL TIES LIKELY TO BE CUT, SOURCE SAYS
Abu Dhabi warned Netanyahu’s coalition this month that any annexation of the West Bank would be a “red line” for the Gulf state but did not say what measures could follow.
The UAE, which established ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, was considering withdrawing its ambassador in any response, the sources told Reuters.
The sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abu Dhabi was not considering completely severing ties, although tensions have mounted during the almost two-year-old Gaza War.
A source in Israel said the government believed it could repair its strained ties with the UAE, a major commercial center seen as the most significant of the Arab states to establish ties with Israel in 2020. The others were Bahrain and Morocco.
No other Arab state has since established formal ties with Israel, which also has diplomatic relations with Egypt and Jordan, and direct contacts with Qatar, though without full diplomatic recognition. Once-thriving business ties between the UAE and Israel have cooled due to the Gaza war and Netanyahu has yet to visit the Gulf state five years after establishing ties.
ISRAELI COMPANIES BARRED FROM UAE AIRSHOW
In a sign of growing tension with Israel, the Gulf state last week decided to bar Israeli defense companies from exhibiting at the Dubai Airshow in November, three of the sources said. Two other sources, an Israeli official and an Israeli defense industry executive, confirmed the decision.
Israel‘s defense ministry said it had been made aware of the decision but did not elaborate. A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said discussions over Israel‘s participation in the week-long trade show were continuing.
Israel‘s media were the first to report the move to block the firms from the UAE‘s flagship aerospace and defense event.
The UAE foreign ministry did not respond to questions on whether it was weighing downgrading diplomatic ties with Israel.
The spokesperson at the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi said that Israel was committed to the Abraham Accords and that it would continue to work towards strengthening ties with the UAE.
Emirati foreign ministry official Lana Nusseibeh had told Reuters and Israeli media on Sept. 3 that any annexation of the West Bank would jeopardize the Abraham Accords and end the pursuit of regional integration.
That warning preceded Israel‘s air strike on Qatar last week, which targeted Hamas leaders, an attack that Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemned.
At an emergency meeting of Muslim nations in Qatar, convened in response to the strike, a communique was issued urging countries to review diplomatic and economic ties with Israel.
As part of the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu promised to hold off annexing the West Bank for four years. But that deadline has passed and some Israeli ministers are now pressing for action.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this month said that maps were being drawn up to annex most of the West Bank, urging Netanyahu to accept the plan. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, also backs annexing the territory.
TIES WITH ISRAEL DETERIORATED AFTER 2023
After establishing ties, the UAE and Israel built a close relationship, focusing on economic, security, and intelligence cooperation. This followed years of discreet contacts.
But differences began emerging after Netanyahu returned to power in 2023, leading the most right-wing government in Israel‘s history. Abu Dhabi has condemned repeated efforts by Ben-Gvir to alter the status quo of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa compound to allow Jews to be able to pray there. The site is sacred to Muslims and Jews and at present non-Muslims can visit but cannot pray.
The UAE has also criticized Israel‘s policies in the West Bank, including the expansion of settlements, and its military campaign in Gaza, and said an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel was necessary for regional stability. Netanyahu this month declared there would never be a Palestinian state in the wake of Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
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Gaza Aid Driver Kills Two Israeli Military Personnel at Jordan Border Crossing
Israeli police officers stand next to their cars at the scene of a fatal shooting at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, Sept. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
A driver bringing humanitarian aid from Jordan for Gaza opened fire and killed two Israeli military personnel at the Allenby Crossing into the West Bank on Thursday before being killed by security forces, authorities from both nations said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for what Israel denounced as a “terror attack” at the only gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.
“The driver accused of the operation is Abdul Mutalib al-Qaisi, born in 1968. He is a civilian who began working as a driver delivering aid to Gaza three months ago,” Jordan’s foreign ministry said.
Israel‘s ambulance service said the two Israelis succumbed to their wounds while the attacker was shot dead by security personnel.
Jordan said an investigation would be opened, calling the shootings a threat to its humanitarian role in Gaza.
Israeli chief of staff Eyal Zamir advised the government to halt the entry of humanitarian aid from Jordan until the completion of an inquiry into the incident, and the implementation of revised screening procedures for Jordanian drivers, the military said.
Earlier this month, Palestinian terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting on the outskirts of Jerusalem that killed six people.
In September 2024, a gunman from Jordan also killed three Israelis at the Allenby Crossing before being shot dead by security forces.