Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City, triggering growing international condemnation, with world leaders warning of dire humanitarian consequences.
The plan to take over Gaza’s largest city was announced on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel intended to take military control of the entire Gaza Strip.
Israel’s plan to expand its assault on Gaza is expected to worsen the humanitarian devastation in the besieged enclave, triggering a wave of mass displacement amid a hunger crisis.
Here is how the world is reacting to the Israeli plan:
UN rights chief
“The Israeli Government’s plan for a complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted,” the UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Friday.
“It runs contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must bring its occupation to an end as soon as possible, to the realisation of the agreed two-State solution and to the right of Palestinians to self-determination,” Turk added.
Palestinian presidency
The Palestinian presidency condemned Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel intends to seize full control of the Gaza Strip.
“This is a complete crime,” the Presidency said, describing it as a continuation of “genocide, systematic killing, starvation and siege,” in report carried the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
It warned that Israel’s actions would lead to an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Hamas
Hamas warned that the Israeli government’s decision to escalate the war would amount to “sacrificing” the captives being held in Gaza.
“The decision to occupy Gaza confirms that the criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi government do not care about the fate of their captives,” the group said in a statement. “They understand that expanding the aggression means sacrificing them.”
Turkish foreign ministry
Turkiye said the decision to take control of Gaza City aimed to forcibly displace Palestinians and called for international leaders to prevent the plan from being carried out.
“We call on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities to prevent the implementation of this decision, which aims to forcibly displace Palestinians from their own land,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said, according to Reuters.
British prime minister
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Israel’s decision to step up military operations in Gaza “wrong” and called for restraint.
“The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong, and we urge it to reconsider immediately,” he said.
“This action will do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.”
China’s foreign ministry
China expressed “serious concerns” over Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City and urged it to “immediately cease its dangerous actions”.
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP in a message.
“The correct way to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to secure the release of hostages is an immediate ceasefire,” they added.
German chancellor
Chanceller Friedrich Merz said Germany will not authorise any exports to Israel of military equipment that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”.
“The even harsher military action by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, approved by the Israeli Cabinet last night, makes it increasingly difficult for the German government to see how these goals will be achieved,” he said.
“Under these circumstances, the German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice.”
Sweden foreign minister
Sweden’s foreign minister said the Israeli government’s decision to escalate the assault on Gaza would make it harder to reach a truce.
“I view with great concern the decision that the Israeli government has made,” Maria Malmer Stenergard told Swedish broadcaster SVT on Friday. “We need a ceasefire and this decision risks taking the development in the opposite direction.”
“I have previously reiterated that any attempt to annex, change or reduce the territory of Gaza would violate international law,” she said.
Australian foreign minister
Responding to Netanyahu’s remarks that Israel’s military would take control of the entire Gaza Strip, Canberra warned that the expansion would deepen the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
“Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international law,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, as she renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire.
“With international partners, Australia maintains our call for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and aid to flow unimpeded,” she said.
Wong also reiterated Australia’s growing support for Palestinian statehood, stating it was a matter of “when, not if”.
Finland’s foreign minister
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, warning of a looming famine.
“We hope for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and the immediate release of Israeli hostages,” Valtonen said, according to Reuters.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad
The Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad said Israel’s plans to expand its assault on Gaza were “a new chapter in the war of extermination.”
In a statement, the group said: “The Zionist entity’s government is preparing to escalate its massacres in Gaza,” adding that “we hold Arab governments and the West responsible for curbing this escalation.”
It accused Netanyahu of pushing for “forced displacement,” saying his “escalation, fully supported by the Trump administration, aims to occupy the Gaza Strip.”
Netherlands foreign minister
The Netherlands’ foreign minister criticised Israel’s plan to expand its military campaign in Gaza, calling it “a wrong move”.
“The plan of the Netanyahu government to intensify Israeli operations in Gaza is a wrong move,” Caspar Veldkamp wrote on X. “The (Gaza) humanitarian situation is catastrophic and demands immediate improvement. This decision in no way contributes to this and will also not help to get the hostages home.”
Saudi foreign ministry
Riyadh condemned any Israeli move to take control of Gaza, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The kingdom “categorically denounces Israeli occupation authorities’ persistence in committing crimes of starvation, brutal practices, and ethnic cleansing against the brotherly Palestinian people,” it said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of EU’s executive branch, said Israel must reconsider its plan to take control of Gaza City.
“The Israeli government’s decision to further extend its military operation in Gaza must be reconsidered,” she wrote on X.
Danish foreign minister
Israel’s decision to intensify its military operation in Gaza is wrong and should immediately be reversed, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told Denmark’s TV2.
Jordanian foreign ministry
The foreign ministry in Amman “condemned, in the strongest terms, the plan” approved by Israel that “aims to entrench its occupation of the Gaza Strip and expand full military control over it”.
The statement also accused Israel of committing “grave violations of international law and international humanitarian law”, and undermining “the two-state solution and the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
Spanish foreign minister
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said: “We firmly condemn the decision of the Israeli government to escalate the military occupation of Gaza. It will only cause more destruction and suffering.”
He added that “a permanent ceasefire, the immediate and massive entry of humanitarian aid, and the release of all hostages are urgently needed.”
Belgium’s foreign ministry
Belgian foreign minister summoned the Israeli ambassador citing the announced plan to occupy Gaza City and take military control of Gaza.
The ministry said Belgium wanted to “express (its) total disapproval of this decision, but also of the continued colonization … and the desire to annex the West Bank,” adding that it will “vigorously advocate” for a reversal of this decision.
“Following the official confirmation by the Israeli government of its intention to encircle and then occupy Gaza City and take military control of the entire Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot has decided to summon the Israeli Ambassador,” it said.
Israel’s opposition leader
Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the decision to seize Gaza City.
“This is a disaster which will lead to many more disasters,” he posted on X, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of caving to pressure from far-right ministers. He said the move ignored military advice and the exhaustion of troops.
