The Israel-Hamas War In Gaza Could Be About To Get Even Worse

Fears of famine in Gaza have reached new heights in recent weeks.Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza may be about to get even more horrifying, even as calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw grow.New footage of two Israeli hostages still being held by the Palestinian militants Hamascaused worldwide outrage in recent days, as the clips showed the horrifying conditions they were being kept in while evidently starving.UK foreign secretary David Lammy said they must be released “unconditionally”, writing on X that the “images of hostages being paraded for propaganda are sickening”.Hamas has denied that it intentionally starves its prisoners, instead claiming they eat what the Palestinians in Gaza eat during this humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s blockade of aid.The militants claim they would “respond positively” to any Red Cross request to deliver food and medicine to the prisoners if humanitarian corridors were opened in Gaza.Relatives of the remaining 49 captives still believed to be held in Gaza have renewed their pleas to Netanyahu, calling on him to reach a peace deal so the Israelis can be released.Families of hostages protest, demanding the release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at the plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. But the new footage – along with the recent collapse of the indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas – seems to have had the opposite effect on the Israeli leaders.Reports suggest the Israeli hard-right cabinet is now looking to expand its ground operations in Gaza instead, in a bid to try and control the entire strip.That would be Israel’s first complete military takeover of the Palestinian territory in two decades.It all depends on what the ministers agree to today during their pivotal meeting.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the audience at a conference in Jerusalem, Sunday, July 27, 2025.If they decide to go ahead with more aggression, it will mean the deepening crisis in Gaza gets even worse – even after 22 months of war.The Palestinian territory is already utterly destroyed and more than 60,000 people have been killed, according to the local Hamas-run health ministry.Existing regional tensions escalated on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli territory and took around 250 people hostage.Israel declared war, imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory and sent in its military.Now nearly all of Gaza’s two million population have been displaced.The Palestinians living in the last fifth of the land which is not yet been impacted by Israeli military control – either by Israeli ground incursions or ordered evacuations – said any further push would cause chaos, according to Reuters.It’s estimated Gaza had as much, likely more, explosives dropped on it as Dresden, Hamburg and London in WW2. Little wonder it looks like this. Not filmed with anything fancy, just an iPhone through a window. There’s no avoiding the scale of destruction. https://t.co/CFrVtiEh9J— Emma Murphy (@emmamurphyitv) August 4, 2025If the cabinet does decide to seize the whole of Gaza, it would reverse a 2005 decision from Israel to pull settlers and military out of the area while retaining control over its borders.It remains to be seen just what such a takeover could look like.Israel may try to occupy the entire land or it could end up being a short-lived mission meant to finally wipe out Hamas and free the Israeli hostages.The military in Israel has been opposed to seizing the whole of the strip, because it would require long-term governance and the army is already struggling with manpower.They’re not the only ones opposed to the idea, either.Netanyahu’s predecessor, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told Sky News it is a “war of deception”.“It is nothing to do with the security of Israel,” he said.“It has nothing to do with the future of the hostages, only risking them. It is basically a war to hold together the coalition and to save Netanyahu from the day of reckoning that will come inevitably when the war stops, when his criminal court case of corruption will be accelerated.”He claimed there will be a national inquiry into October 7 and the events that followed too, which Netanyahu “could not stand”.Barak said he was part of a group made up of former heads of various leadership units, like former police commissioners and former Mossad agents, who are calling on Netanyahu to “stop the war immediately and to bring back all the hostages and to start a new chapter.”The former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak has said that military actions in Gaza are now 'totally unjustified' and have 'nothing to do with the security of Israel'.https://t.co/yGh3ARGVmypic.twitter.com/9k7dGtwzaa— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 4, 2025It’s believed he is one of 600 key figures calling on Donald Trump to step in and push Netanyahu to end the war – although the US president has only raised his fears about starvation in Gaza so far.While some of Israel’s allies, like the UK, France and Canada, have promised to recognise Palestinian statehood next month, it’s well-known that America influences Israel the most.US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said he is working with Israel on a plan that would end the war in Gaza.But, Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister Sharren Haskel still slammed the UK’s decision this morning, telling Radio that it is “absolutely appalling” that Britain has a plan to recognise Palestinian statehood.“I would expect our allies to stand beside us during one of the toughest times and another independence war that we’re actually fighting against a Nazi death cult,” she said.She added the UK needs to think about what that plan teaches “terrorist organisations around the world” – including in Britain.Haskel also dodged questions about whether Israel bears responsibility for the starvation of children in Gaza.“The responsibility lies on Hamas’s hands and Hamas only,” she said. “There is no conflict in a war where you can find, not a one that Britain participated in or any other conflict, that you don’t have any casualties.“And you know what? Israel has made mistakes and we’ve apologised for that. But Israel does not use it as a target. Israel does not target civilians.”Her words are completely at odds with new comments from the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who told the Guardian: “Israel has built the most efficient starvation machine you can imagine.“So while it’s always shocking to see people being starved, no one should act surprised. All the information has been out in the open since early 2024.”He added: ”It’s genocide. It’s a crime against humanity. It’s a war crime.”Related...Israel Is Committing Genocide In Gaza, Israeli Human Rights Groups ConcludeTrump Says He Disagrees With Israel's Claim There Is 'No Starvation' In Gaza'Make Or Break': UN Aid Chief's Bleak Warning Over Gaza As Hunger Levels Rise

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