Israel’s full security cabinet is expected to approve Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza takeover plan when it convenes today, according to Israeli media. Pictures show aid trucks waiting at the border with Egypt amid growing fears about famine. Follow the latest updates below.
Thursday 7 August 2025 10:32, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
We can bring you more from Einav Zangauker now, whose son Matan is being held hostage in Gaza (see 9.30 post).
She has called for protests outside the Israeli security cabinet meeting scheduled for later today, where the plan for a full Gaza takeover will reportedly be approved.
Zangauker has called the talks a “death cabinet meeting” and said the plan will condemn her son to death.
“This is a fateful evening for Matan’s life and for 49 other hostages, this is a fateful evening for the life of our country,” she said as she called for people to join the protests.
“I ned you, my Matan needs you, all the hostages need you. This is your moment, the people, to leave your homes and save our future!”
She said “we’re going out to flood the country and stop this madness together” starting with tonight’s protest.
The Hostage Families Forum has urged Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir to stand up against Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for a full takeover of Gaza.
Israeli media have been reporting that Zamir has warned against the proposal.
“The families of the hostages call on IDF commanders at all levels not to act in a way that will endanger hostages’ lives and block the possibility of the return of the bodies,” the group said in a statement.
It added that public sentiment supports a deal that will free all remaining hostages, and said any other decision “will be clearly inhumane and spell disaster for the hostages and the whole of Israel”.
The mother of an Israeli hostage being held in Gaza has called for protests outside the security cabinet meeting scheduled for later today – see our 7.52 post for more details on that meeting.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, has said Benjamin Netanyahu promised her that he would pursue a deal to free the hostages.
However, she said the Israeli prime minister “took advantage of my pain, of the families, the whole hurt nation [and] killed a deal”, the Times of Israel reports.
“Someone who talks about a comprehensive deal doesn’t go and conquer the Strip and put hostages and soldiers in danger,” she wrote in a post on X.
“Netanyahu and his partners are about to condemn [Matan] to death.”
As a backlog of aid still waits to get into Gaza (see previous post), Indonesia will convert a medical facility on an uninhabited island to treat around 2,000 injured Gazans.
A presidential spokesperson said that the plan to convert the facility on the island of Galang was not an evacuation from Gaza.
The island was a sprawling refugee camp run by the United Nations until 1996, and more recently hosted a hospital to treat COVID patients in 2020.
Hasan Nasbi also told reporters that the patients would be taken back to Gaza after they had healed.
It comes months after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s offer to shelter injured Palestinians was criticised for appearing too close to Donald Trump’s suggestion of permanently moving Palestinians out of Gaza.
But Indonesia’s foreign ministry said it “strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians”.
Aid trucks have been waiting on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
These pictures from yesterday show the queues to get aid in.
A UN spokesperson said hundreds of trucks filled with humanitarian aid will be needed in Gaza every day for months and possibly years to come because of shortages in food and basic supplies.
While new measures have seen more aid trucks entering Gaza, humanitarian groups have warned that not enough food is reaching people.
Last month, the World Health Organisation warned that malnutrition is on a “dangerous trajectory” in Gaza and said the “deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale food, health and humanitarian aid has cost many lives”.
Five more people died in Gaza yesterday as a result of starvation or malnutrition, the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave said.
We’ve been reporting that the Israeli security cabinet is expected to give the green light to a Gaza takeover plan when it convenes later today (see previous post).
But what could such a plan involve?
Israel would issue an evacuation notice to the residents of Gaza City in the first phase of the plan, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
This phase is expected to last several weeks, and include the establishment of civilian infrastructure in central Gaza, including hospitals and camps for evacuees.
The military offensive will then be launched in the second phase of the plan, while Donald Trump would reportedly announce the acceleration of humanitarian aid in coordination with Israel.
On Wednesday, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Bloomberg that there was a push to add 12 aid sites to the four operated by Israel and the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Channel 12 reported that the expansion would be funded by around $1bn in donations from the US and other countries.
The military campaign is expected to last between four and five months and involve up to five Israel Defence Forces divisions, according to Israeli media.
But as we’ve been reporting, Benjamin Netanyahu was presented with a range of options when he met security officials earlier this week.
Public broadcaster Kan is reporting that an alternative plan is to encircle Gaza City and the central Gaza camps, block aid to those areas and launch pinpoint raids.
However, the Israeli prime minister has reportedly dismissed this option.
Israel is expected to approve Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for a takeover of Gaza when the security cabinet meets later today.
According to the Times of Israel, the full cabinet is due to convene at 6pm local time, 4pm in the UK.
Israeli media are reporting that the plan could potentially span over five months, and it is likely to be aimed at destroying Hamas and pressuring it to free remaining hostages.
While some ministers have been critical of the plan, reports suggest Netanyahu is likely to secure a majority of support.
The meeting comes after Netanyahu held three-hour talks with a smaller group of security officials on Tuesday, where he was presented with several options by Israel Defence Forces chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir.
Today, we could hear more about Benjamin Netanyahu’s reported plan to press ahead with a full occupation of Gaza.
Israel’s full security cabinet is due to meet later today to finalise plans, which could then be revealed to the public.
That all comes despite growing concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which the UN said yesterday is “beyond catastrophe”.
Stay with us for the latest in Israel and Gaza here.
That’s all for now – we’ll be back with the latest from Israel and Gaza soon.
In the meantime, here’s a quick recap of today’s developments:
To add to that, we’ll soon be hearing from Donald Trump, who’s making a “big announcement”, believed to be about investment from Apple.
Typically, the US president takes questions in these sorts of events, and the topics tend to vary.
He’s bound to be asked about Ukraine and will likely also be questioned on Israel and Gaza.
We’ll bring you anything he says right here.
You may also watch along in the video at the top of the page signposted below, covering the Ukraine war – just tap on the link.
Away from Gaza, reports from Lebanon suggest explosions have been seen in the south of the country.
According to media reports, Israel is carrying out airstrikes in various areas.
The Israeli military has not commented.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free