Warner critical of Netanyahu plan to occupy Gaza: ‘Dangerous and counterproductive’

Add Mark Warner to the list of critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to launch a full-scale occupation of Gaza City.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan to take over Gaza is a dangerous and counterproductive move that will not secure the release of the remaining hostages or bring an end to the fighting that has already taken so many lives,” said Sen. Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“This approach will without question worsen the already terrible humanitarian conditions in Gaza, and Israel’s own military leaders have expressed serious concerns about the feasibility and risks of this strategy,” Warner said.

The international community has come down hard on Netanyahu, who won approval from his security cabinet for a five-point plan for ending the war in Gaza – which lists as its principles disarming Hamas, returning all Oct. 7 hostages, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, taking security control of the Gazan territory, and establishing “an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.”

The plan hinges on, as a first step, taking full military control of Gaza City, which would necessitate relocating its estimated 1 million residents further south.

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Among the critics, we also have UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called the move “wrong,” and said it “will only bring more bloodshed,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who has urged Israel “not to go down this path”, stressing that it would “only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who moved to suspend military exports to Israel in response.

“The priority must be to end this war immediately through diplomatic efforts and coordinated pressure to ensure the safe return of hostages and protect innocent lives. Pursuing this path will only guarantee prolonged conflict and greater suffering,” Warner said.