Day 669 - Is Israel about to conquer the entire Gaza Strip?

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene a limited security meeting today to discuss military plans for Gaza. According to reports based on leaked information, following yesterday’s cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told ministers he intends to seek cabinet approval for a full re-occupation of the Gaza Strip. Horovitz delves into the pushback from several sectors of Israeli society -- including hostage families and security officials past and present -- and raises the possibility that this plan could be a negotiating lever to bring Hamas to the table.

This idea to conquer and/or occupy the entire Gaza Strip comes as a report released Monday by the Hostages and Missing states that the 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are at an “immediate risk of death” due to starvation. The terrible conundrum of whether it is possible to simultaneously defeat Hamas and still get the hostages out alive has become increasingly more acute as the war continues. With this new leaked potential plan, Borschel-Dan wonders, has Netanyahu given up on the hostages? Horovitz responds.

The government voted unanimously on Monday to dismiss Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from office, following months of confrontation between the two sides, in a decision that will have deep legal and political reverberations given the government’s long-running efforts to weaken the judiciary. The move was then frozen by the High Court until the justices can rule on its legality. Horovitz gives three scenarios explaining why the government moved forward -- during the Knesset recess -- with this controversial step.

Also on Monday afternoon, lawmakers on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee voted 9-7 to appoint Likud MK Boaz Bismuth as their chairman, officially pushing out former chairman Yuli Edelstein in a move designed to end an impasse over legislation on military draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community. What makes Bismuth a better candidate to push legislation forward?

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Netanyahu said set to order full takeover of Gaza, despite IDF qualms, risk to hostages

Medical report: Hostages face ‘immediate risk of death’ from ‘systematic starvation’

‘On the precipice of defeat’: 19 former defense chiefs demand end to Gaza war

Government fires attorney general; High Court immediately freezes her dismissal

MK Bismuth elected to head key defense panel, push through Haredi draft exemption law

Edelstein shares Haredi draft proposal, hours before vote on his ouster as panel head

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IMAGE: Illustrative: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits in a military vehicle in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, July 18, 2024. (Avi Ohayon/Israel Prime Minister's Office via AP)

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