Israel's plan to take Gaza City could potentially bring sustainable peace to the Middle East - Greens/Farmers

RIGA - The plan approved by the Israeli Security Cabinet to take over Gaza City could potentially ensure sustainable peace in the Middle East region, according to the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), which is part of the government coalition.

The leader of the party's Saeima group, Harijs Rokpelnis, stressed to LETA that ZZS does not question Israel's right to self-defense and to fight terrorist groups while respecting international and humanitarian law.

"The plan announced by Israel has the potential, in our view, to ensure sustainable peace in the Middle East region," he said.

The AFP news agency reports that Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to "take control" of Gaza City, his office said in a statement Friday.

Under the plan to "defeat" Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army "will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones", it said.

Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a truce to pull the Palestinian territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and to spare hostages held by Palestinian militants.

As he convened his security cabinet on Thursday, Netanyahu said Israel planned to take full control of Gaza but did not intend to govern it.

Ahead of the meeting, Netanyahu told US network Fox News that the government intended to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, where the military has been fighting Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

He added that Israel did not want "to keep" the Gaza Strip, which Israel occupied in 1967 but withdrew troops and settlers from in 2005.

Netanyahu said Israel wanted a "security perimeter" and to hand the Palestinian territory to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life."

"That's not possible with Hamas," he added.