{"id":159904,"date":"2025-08-08T10:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gaza-latest-israel-wrong-to-escalate-gaza-offensive-starmer-says-as-criticism-of-plan-to-end-war-grows-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T10:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T10:50:21","slug":"gaza-latest-israel-wrong-to-escalate-gaza-offensive-starmer-says-as-criticism-of-plan-to-end-war-grows-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gaza-latest-israel-wrong-to-escalate-gaza-offensive-starmer-says-as-criticism-of-plan-to-end-war-grows-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaza latest: Israel 'wrong' to escalate Gaza offensive, Starmer says – as criticism of plan to end war grows – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel’s security cabinet has approved Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for ending the war in Gaza – which includes taking full security control of the Strip. Keir Starmer says the plan is “wrong”. Listen to the Daily podcast – on what full military occupation would look like – as you scroll.
Friday 8 August 2025 11:37, UK
The German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said.
Responding to Israel’s plan to expand its military operations in Gaza, Merz said Germany is “deeply concerned” about the ongoing suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
“With the planned offensive, the Israeli government bears even greater responsibility than before for supplying them,” he said.
“It must facilitate comprehensive access for aid supplies, including for UN organisations and other non-governmental institutions. 
“Following the correct steps taken in recent days, Israel must continue to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza comprehensively and sustainably.”
Merz said the German government also urges Israel not to take any further steps towards annexing the West Bank.
There is no perfect solution to the war in Gaza, a former adviser to Shimon Peres has said.
Peres was Israeli president between 2007 and 2014.
Speaking to our presenter Darren McCaffrey, Ruth Wasserman Lande said both a full combat situation and hostages remaining in captivity are “very far from perfect”.
“The question is, what can be done?” she asked.
“This is a very, very uneasy situation that has been going on for far too long.
“I believe that is what is mandated for us, we are mandated to fight for those hostages, this is not a perfect solution but neither is the current situation on the ground.”
Watch the full interview in the video below.<\/b>
Protests were held in Israel last night as the security cabinet met to approve Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of Gaza City.
Opposite the US consulate in Tel Aviv, a message has appeared on a beach which reads “end BB’s war”, within the outline of Donald Trump’s head. Netanyahu is known as “Bibi”.
The message also features a yellow ribbon, which has become a symbol of solidarity and hope for the safe return of hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
A former Israeli defence minister has called Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “slow” and “indecisive” after announcing its decision to take control of Gaza City.
“Netanyahu has done nothing,” Benny Gantz said in a post on X.
He also accused the Israeli government of failing to seize opportunities for a permanent ceasefire and the “decisive defeat of Hamas”.
Israeli officials “wasted time and squandered military gains”, he added.
Israel must end its Gaza plan “as soon as possible”, the UN high commissioner for human rights has said.
“This further escalation will result in more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering, senseless destruction and atrocity crimes,” Volker Turk said. 
“The war in Gaza must end now. And Israelis and Palestinians must be allowed to live side by side in peace.”
Turk added that Israel’s government “should put all its efforts into saving the lives of Gaza’s civilians by allowing the full, unfettered flow of humanitarian aid”.
He also urged Palestinian armed groups to “immediately and unconditionally” release all the remaining hostages.
A senior Palestinian politician has condemned Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of pursuing the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Netanyahu proved that he doesn’t care about Israeli captives, never wanted to reach a ceasefire agreement,” Mustafa Barghouti said in a post on X.
He added that Netanyahu was using the destruction of Hamas “as a cover for his intention to ethnically cleanse all the Palestinian people in Gaza”.
Barghouti said the Israeli security cabinet’s decision amounted to “a declaration of a war crime of extermination, genocide and ethnic cleansing”.
“Netanyahu wouldn’t have dared commit all these crimes without the support of the American administration,” he added.
Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of carrying out genocide in Gaza.
Speaking on the plan, Netanyahu told Fox News he wanted to hand Gaza over to Arab forces (see 7.53 post).
“We don’t want to keep it, we want to have a security perimeter,” he said.
More reaction to bring you now to Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza City, this time from Turkey.
The country’s foreign ministry said Israel must immediately halt its war plans and agree a ceasefire in Gaza.
It also urged Israel to start negotiations for a two-state solution, saying the continuation of the war deals a heavy blow to global security.
Turkey urged the international community and the United Nations Security Council to prevent the implementation of Israel’s new plan.
The Israeli public is “stunned and in shock” that the direction of the Israeli government is towards “conquering Gaza”, a journalist at Israeli publication Haaretz has said.
Speaking to our presenter Gareth Barlow<\/a>, Allison Kaplan Sommer said there is a “strong belief that the far-right elements in his [Netanyahu’s] government have a dream of completely and permanently reoccupying Gaza”.
She explained that Netanyahu’s talk of eventually turning Gaza over to a civilian government “doesn’t really hold water” because he had nearly two years to work on a solution that would replace Hamas with a different government.
“I think Israelis are very surprised at what’s going on, but Netanyahu does have a base,” she added.
“There’s a solid 30-40% of the population that does believe that a total victory needs to be pursued and then Hamas can be wiped out.
“But we shouldn’t forget that the issue of the hostages is very sensitive in Israel and it’s an argument that beats everything.”
Watch the full interview below.<\/b>
The Israeli government has “sentenced the living hostages to death and the fallen hostages to disappearance” with its decision to expand military operations in Gaza, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“The cabinet decision to launch the process of occupying the Strip is an official declaration of the abandonment of the hostages, while completely ignoring the repeated warning by the military echelon and the clear desire of more of the public in Israel,” it said, as the Times of Israel reports.
The group, which represents loved ones of the hostages seized by Hamas on 7 October 2023, also accused the Israeli government of acting against the national interest with a “foolish” move of “deception and unforgivable moral and security neglect” that brings Israel closer to a “colossal disaster for the hostages and [IDF] fighters”.
However, it added that the move can be stopped if a comprehensive deal to end the war and return all hostages is reached.
For its part, the Israeli government has made the return of all the hostages the second part of its five-point plan to end the war (see 7.53 post).
Israel expanding its military operations throughout Gaza could have “catastrophic consequences”, a United Nations official warned earlier this week.
Assistant secretary-general Miroslav Jenca told a UN Security Council briefing on Tuesday that the plan was “deeply alarming”.
“This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza,” he said.
The UN meeting was called by Israel to discuss the 50 hostages still being held in Gaza after Hamas released footage of two emaciated hostages.
Jenca described footage of Evaytar David digging his own grave as “appalling” and said that the images of him and Rom Braslavsky were “an affront to humanity itself”.
Be the first to get Breaking News<\/span>
Install the Sky News app for free<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel’s security cabinet has approved Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for ending the war in Gaza – which includes taking full security control of the Strip. Keir Starmer says the plan is “wrong”. Listen to the Daily podcast – on what full military occupation would look like – as you scroll.Friday 8 August 2025 11:37, UKThe German […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}