CAIRO, August 8. /TASS/. Hamas believes that the latest Israeli plan to occupy the entire Gaza Strip is just a tool of pressure on the Palestinian side in the negotiation process, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted a source in the radical Palestinian movement as saying.

According to the source, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use the plan "as leverage" to extract concessions from Hamas. The Palestinian radicals suspect that any concessions will lead to "further demands" from the Israeli side. Netanyahu would not benefit from finding a peaceful solution to the conflict as he is gaining "political dividends" from continued hostilities, Hamas argues.

Earlier, the Israeli state-run Kan broadcaster reported, citing a statement from the Netanyahu government, that Israel’s military-political cabinet had approved the prime minister’s plan to gain full control of Gaza City and escalate operations across the Palestinian enclave. Under this plan, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will prepare for a comprehensive operation in Gaza while simultaneously delivering humanitarian aid to civilians outside active conflict zones. On August 7, the Ynet news portal reported that Israel’s political leadership was nearing a decision to pursue a "complete occupation" of the Gaza Strip.

The situation in the Middle East deteriorated sharply after armed supporters of the Palestinian Hamas movement from the Gaza Strip entered Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, killing residents of border settlements and taking hostages. The radicals called this attack a response to Israel’s actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel blockaded Gaza and launched a military operation in the strip to free the hostages and dismantle Hamas’s fighting capability. In March, Israel resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip, breaking a ceasefire established in January. Several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States failed.