AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Tonight, the Israeli cabinet is debating the next stage of the war in Gaza. Israel currently controls about 75% of Gaza but could move to take full control. That could endanger Palestinian civilians and the remaining Israeli hostages. The cabinet is set to announce its decision later tonight. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports from Tel Aviv.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: It's been a dramatic day for Israelis as they await their government's decision.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: Gaza protests broke out across the country. In the ranks were freed hostages who warned that extending the war would be a death sentence for the remaining hostages. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Fox News ahead of the cabinet meeting. He was asked if Israel planned to occupy all of Gaza.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel.
BEARDSLEY: When pressed for details, he hedged.
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NETANYAHU: Well, we don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter, but we don't want to govern it.
BEARDSLEY: He said they want to hand Gaza over to Arab forces that will govern it. But Netanyahu has always refused internationally backed plans to install the Palestinian Authority, which currently governs the West Bank. The war won't end until all the hostages are returned and Hamas agrees to disarm and go into exile, says Netanyahu. Hamas says it will release the remaining hostages after a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. So the fighting goes on. The debate over the next stage has provoked a widening rift between Netanyahu's government, which includes far-right Jewish settler ministers who want to resettle Gaza, and the military that does not want a never-ending war with huge soldier casualties.
Michael Milshtein is a former IDF intelligence officer who heads the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University. He says reoccupying Gaza is sheer folly and that Israel's top general will likely offer an alternative plan.
MICHAEL MILSHTEIN: Of occupying only areas, several areas, in Gaza, creating between two to three enclaves, and in a gradual manner to limit Hamas and to make Hamas weaker.
BEARDSLEY: Today, the IDF issued evacuation notice to residents of Gaza City. A million people are living there. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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