Israelis took to the streets on Sunday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand operations in the Gaza Strip rather than attempt to negotiate an end to the war under which Hamas would free its last hostages.

On Sunday, relatives and friends of hostages taken by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, on October 7, 2023, called a nationwide strike. Around 25 hostages are believed be alive in Gaza. The protests took place across Israel, some outside of politician's homes, military bases, and highways.

The Israeli Defense Forces said it has plans to relocate residents from combat zones in order "to ensure their safety."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the expansion of Israeli plans to temporarily take over Gaza beyond just Gaza City on Monday.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Wednesday that his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost the plot” and that Israel’s planned occupation of Gaza City is “utterly unacceptable.

Israel's security cabinet has approved plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli military to occupy Gaza City, in an expansion of military operations that comes amid international condemnation of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

For Netanyahu, the calculation is now straightforward: win the war quickly, and the rest will sort itself out. In March 2024, with the US presidential race heating up and just five months after the October 7 massacre,

In an interview on Fox News in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israelis "intend to" take over Gaza "in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel."

A statement issued by the countries says the Israeli PM’s remarks constitutes a direct threat to Arab national security.

Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Ansar Allah, warned of "bad consequences" for Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu moves forward with his contentious 'Greater Israel' plan.