Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways

Zamir’s approval comes amid rising tensions between the IDF top brass and Netanyahu’s government, after the IDF chief expressed concern over the planned operation.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved the central concept and plans for the IDF’s expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, the military said.

The discussion held by Zamir also included Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials and other senior defense officials.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

A plan for further steps to be taken in the Gaza Strip was also presented and approved. On Thursday, Zamir and other IDF commanders will present the central ideas for the occupation of Gaza City to Defense Minister Israel Katz. Upon that approval, forces will be notified and deployed to Gaza, and a number of reserve units will be called up.

Zamir had attended a discussion on the possibility of a full takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. On Friday, Zamir convened several senior officials, including Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, Military Intelligence Director Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, Operations Directorate Chief Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, and Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar.

During this meeting, Zamir presented the main operational vision, focusing on the conditions to bring back the remaining hostages and dismantle Hamas’s rule while ensuring the security of IDF soldiers.

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir in discussions with general staff officials to approve Gaza takeover plan, August 13, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Security sources told Walla that the main task of planning the operation was assigned to the planning, operations, and intelligence branches of Southern Command. They have been working on population movement strategies from Gaza City southward to the al-Mawasi region, as well as strategies to secure the area.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

It is believed that Hamas has prepared for the large-scale IDF operation, including infrastructure both above and below ground, with lookout posts, firing positions, machine guns, explosives, tunnels, and ambush plans.

As the operations move closer to the heart of these neighborhoods, Hamas is likely to launch rockets, with some of these sites used as launching positions that Hamas refurbished in the past year.

Tensions had risen between Zamir and Netanyahu over Gaza plans

During the meeting, tensions flared between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Zamir. Netanyahu has previously said that the hostages would only be freed after increasing military pressure on Hamas. However, Zamir has expressed concern about troop fatigue after the nearly two-year war in Gaza, as well as the extent of the IDF’s ability to free the hostages solely through military pressure.

The prime minister stated, “We need to change the approach taken so far; only then will we be able to free the hostages.” Zamir warned that it could become a strategic trap.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

On Monday, the chief of staff said, “We are at the start of a new stage in the fighting in Gaza. We will do everything to protect the hostages and bring them home.”

Amichai Stein and Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.

Here are the latest updates on day 679 of the war:

■ The IDF reported that it attacked “a military structure and an underground infrastructure at a Hezbollah site, in which military activities were identified” in southern Lebanon.

■ Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem of threatening to start a civil war. “There is no one in Lebanon today who wants a civil war, and the threats or hints of this are completely unacceptable,” Salam said.

■ Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, said the group would not allow the Lebanese government to disarm it and warned “there will be no life in Lebanon” if it moves against Hezbollah.

■ Two additional brigades have begun operating in the Zeitoun neighborhood, on the outskirts of Gaza City, as the army expands operations there, the IDF reported.

■ The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday that 51 people were killed in IDF attacks over the past 24 hours, including 17 while waiting for humanitarian aid, and one child died from malnutrition.

■ 127 food aid packages were airdropped into Gaza on Friday “as part of the cooperation between Israel, the UAE, Jordan, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Singapore,” the IDF reported.

■ Israeli troops sealed a tunnel, spanning about 7 kilometers (over 4 miles), in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, the IDF said.

■ The UN, GHF and the IDF must work together to provide aid to Gaza’s population, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew and President Biden’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian affairs, David Satterfield, said in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine.

■ Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinians overnight into Friday in the village of Susya in the West Bank, using clubs and stones, according to local reports. The attackers fled the scene before Israeli forces arrived.

■ Germany rejected Israeli plans to build thousands of new housing units in the West Bank, saying the move violates international law and complicates efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution.

The Israeli military leadership has approved the plan to take over the terrorist-held Gaza City. The announcement comes nearly a week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led security cabinet authorized the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to begin preparations for capturing the Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza.

“The IDF will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on August 8, 2025.

The Israeli armed forces chief, Lt. General Eyal Zamir, on Wednesday, authorized an operational plan for the takeover of the last major Hamas bastion. “IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has approved the general outline for the military’s upcoming major offensive to conquer Gaza City, the military said Wednesday,” The Times of Israel reported. “The approval for the expanded offensive came days after the security cabinet called for the seizure of the Gaza Strip’s largest city (…).”

Defense Minister Israel Katz held a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other military and defense officials a short while ago, during which he was “presented with the principles of the plan to implement the cabinet’s decision to take control of Gaza City,”… pic.twitter.com/uqBwiRcBLt — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 14, 2025

The Jerusalem Post reported:

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved the central concept and plans for the IDF’s expanded offensive in the Gaza Strip, the military said. The discussion held by Zamir also included Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials and other senior defense officials. A plan for further steps to be taken in the Gaza Strip was also presented and approved. On Thursday, Zamir and other IDF commanders will present the central ideas for the occupation of Gaza City to Defense Minister Israel Katz. Upon that approval, forces will be notified and deployed to Gaza, and a number of reserve units will be called up. Zamir had attended a discussion on the possibility of a full takeover of the Gaza Strip last week. On Friday, Zamir convened several senior officials, including Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yaniv Asor, Military Intelligence Director Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, Operations Directorate Chief Maj.-Gen. Itzik Cohen, and Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar. During this meeting, Zamir presented the main operational vision, focusing on the conditions to bring back the remaining hostages and dismantle Hamas’s rule while ensuring the security of IDF soldiers. Security sources told Walla that the main task of planning the operation was assigned to the planning, operations, and intelligence branches of Southern Command. They have been working on population movement strategies from Gaza City southward to the al-Mawasi region, as well as strategies to secure the area.

On Thursday, the chief of Israeli armed forces and the country’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, discussed the strategy for capturing the terrorist-infested Gaza City, the Israeli news website Ynetnews disclosed:

Defense Minister Israel Katz held a discussion with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other commanders regarding the principles of the plan to take control of Gaza City. “Following the discussion, the full plan will be formulated and presented for the Defense Minister’s approval on Sunday,” officials announced. During the meeting, Katz said that “the IDF is mobilizing all forces and preparing with great strength to implement the cabinet’s decision.”

The announcement by the IDF chief diffuses weeklong media speculation about supposed differences between the Israeli government and military leadership over Gaza. Last week’s Israeli cabinet decision triggered a flurry of fake and misleading media stories about starvation in Gaza, ignoring the well-documented fact that Hamas was looting most of the aid and deliberately creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

IDF eliminates deputy commander of Hamas’ Nukhba terrorist forces who participated in the October 7 massacre and hostage taking

Despite Germany, Israel’s second-largest defense supplier, imposing a partial weapons embargo, the IDF continued its hunt for Hamas’ terrorist leadership.

Israeli troops, backed by the Shin Bet security service, eliminated Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin, the deputy commander of Hamas’ Nabuka terrorist force that invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and took part in the mass murder and kidnappings. Al-Baqin was directly responsible for the abduction of Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer, and Tamir Nimrodi, the IDF disclosed Wednesday. All three hostages died in Hamas captivity.

BREAKING!! The IDF and Shin Bet eliminated Hamas terrorist Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin, a deputy Nukhba company commander who participated in the abductions of Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer, and Tamir Nimrodi on October 7. Rest in pieces, Hamashole! pic.twitter.com/J2lFJW4Nmp — Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) August 13, 2025

The military “struck and eliminated the terrorist Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin, who served as a deputy commander of a Nukhba company in Hamas’ Central Jabaliya battalion,” the IDF said in a statement Wednesday. “The terrorist infiltrated Israeli territory during the brutal October 7th massacre, participated in the attack on the Erez District Coordination and Liaison (DCL), and took part in the abduction of Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer, and Tamir Nimrodi.”

Since October 7, 2023, the slain terrorist had been taking part in terrorist activities against the Israeli military in Gaza. “During the war, the terrorist advanced numerous terrorist attacks against IDF troops in the area,” the IDF added.

A member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force who invaded Israel during the October 7 onslaught and participated in the kidnapping of three soldiers, was killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces. Abdullah Saeed Abd al-Baqin served as the deputy commander… pic.twitter.com/qw8jbsKNqf — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 13, 2025

Donations tax deductible

to the full extent allowed by law.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hails Israel’s fight against “savagery” and “barbarism,” condemning what he calls pro-Hamas sentiment on American college campuses and alleged atrocities committed against the Druze minority in Syria last month.

During his opening remarks at a Jerusalem event hosted by the Newsmax news outlet, Netanyahu says that “some have fallen victim” to Hamas propaganda — “to these lies, and have followed them, and swallowed hook, line and sinker” — echoing criticism he voiced at a press conference for foreign media earlier this week.

Despite Hamas’s record of brutal acts of terrorism, he says, many students on American campuses “are siding with Hamas” by embracing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel movements.

Addressing prominent American lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz, who is present in the audience, Netanyahu asks: “Can you say something in their defense right now? No. Yeah, I figured. Neither can I, because I think it’s atrocious.”

Netanyahu stresses that “most Americans [recognize] that Israel stands for the same values as America,” adding: “They recognize that we are fighting the barbarians at the gate.” He also thanks US President Donald Trump for being “a great ally.”

“It’s not only the savagery of Hamas and the Iranian terror axis. In Syria, just a few weeks ago, we stopped the savage massacre of the Druze,” Netanyahu continues, referring to last month’s deadly attacks in and around the southern Syrian city of Sweida, a Druze stronghold, where sectarian clashes with local Bedouin drew in Syrian regime forces and IDF intervention.

“They went into their town of Sweida, and they butchered the men,” Netanyahu says, without clarifying which assailants he refers to. “They raped the women, the nurses, and then shot them. They burnt babies, and they added a few things,” Netanyahu says.

Referencing a widely circulated video purportedly from the attack, he continues: “You saw it live, and you have to see it to understand this. I mean, you see a Druze civilian wounded, lying on the ground. And one of these fanatics, these unbelievable savages, they go in, knife the guy, tear out his heart, and then eat it. The victim has his heart eaten while he’s still alive. This is savagery. This is barbarism. This is what Israel is fighting on behalf of Western civilization, on behalf of civilization.”

“But we now have to muster all the forces that seek to defend our common civilization against this mutilation of the truth that threatens our common future,” Netanyahu concludes.

In the final question of his English-language press conference, Netanyahu is asked about his bitter description of countries’ preparing to recognize Palestinian statehood as rewarding terror. But perhaps, it is put to him, those countries do recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and “are now struggling to stomach what they’re seeing you and your military doing in Gaza?”

“First of all,” Netanyahu responds, “those who say that Israel has a right to defend itself are also saying, ‘But don’t exercise that right.’ When we do what any country would do, faced with this genocidal terrorist organization that has performed the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” he says, “I think we’re actually applying force judiciously, and they know it. They know what they would do if right next to Melbourne, or right next to Sydney, you had this horrific attack. I think you would do at least what we’re doing… [although] maybe not as efficiently and as precisely as we’re doing it. We’ve lost quite a few soldiers in that effort.”

He then dismisses “the prevailing assumption… that the problem that we have with the Palestinians is the absence of a Palestinian state. And [that] if they were given a Palestinian state, they would stop the efforts to destroy the Jewish state. But the Palestinians were offered a state many times, including in the partition resolution, and they turned it down,” he says. “They were offered statehood by my predecessors, with lavish, lavish concessions. They turned it down.”

This, he says, is “because the Palestinians are not about creating a state. They’re about destroying a state. That’s why they opposed the Jewish National Movement to create a state. It’s called Zionism. They opposed it before the inception of the Jewish state, and they’ve opposed it since. They’ve opposed it when they had Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, and Gaza in their hold. They didn’t say, Let’s start. Let’s create a state there. They didn’t say that. Because, again, their goal is the destruction of a state.

“It defies imagination or understanding how intelligent people around the world, including seasoned diplomats, government leaders, and respected journalists, fall for this absurdity,” he marvels. “It’s so easy to verify.”

He says Hamas had a de facto state in Gaza, which it used “to launch a war of terror against Israel,” and that it will do so again if it is able.

As for the Palestinian Authority, he goes on, it seeks first to reduce Israel to “indefensible boundaries” via organs like the ICC and UN, “and then deliver the blow. Because Israel is too strong in its present configuration.”

The PA and Hamas “have no difference about the goal.” He says that is why Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank “are educated with exactly the same textbooks,” and why the PA maintains a “pay for slay” policy to encourage the murder of Jews. “The real reason that this conflict persists is not because of the absence of a Palestinian state, but the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any boundary,” he charges.

Giving the Palestinians a state, he says, would not see them abandoning the “goal of destroying the Jewish state. All you’re doing is you’re bringing the next war closer.”

“Again, Hamas had a state. It just brought the war closer. If you did the same thing in Judea and Samaria, right above Tel Aviv, enveloping Jerusalem, some say cutting Jerusalem into two… you’re going to have the radicals again take it over, Iran take it over, and start a war from improved boundaries.”

The Palestinians should have “all the powers to govern themselves in the places where they live and none of the powers to threaten Israel,” he says. “They should obviously reform their whole education system. They should… accept that Israel is here to stay, not as a fact, as a physical or geographic fact, but as a fact of historical equity. If they want to live here, next to us, they have to stop seeking our destruction. To give them an independent state with all the trimmings is to invite a future war, and a certain war.

“That’s something that today, the Israeli public forcefully opposes,” he notes. Most of the Jewish public and the vast majority of MKs oppose a Palestinian state “for the simple reason that they know it won’t bring peace, it will bring war. To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole… and buy this canard, it is disappointing. And I think it’s actually shameful.”

But, he vows, “it’s not going to change our position. We will not commit national suicide to get a good op-ed for two minutes,” he concludes. “We won’t do that.”