Netanyahu considers full reoccupation of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the IDF to seize complete control of Gaza, which would involve the forced removal of the entire Palestinian population of more than 2 million to humanitarian zones. But there are tensions with the IDF's top brass, who are reportedly opposed to a full-scale takeover, fearing it could endanger the lives of the 20 living hostages still in captivity. Now, a final decision will be made by the end of the week. Palestinians, however, say they continue to live in conditions that are inhuman. Look at this footage, filmed by our team on the ground yesterday, a snapshot of daily life after an Israeli strike hit a UN center, where people had been sheltering. They fled the area after being warned of the hit and returned to find devastation upon existing devastation and their makeshift shelters amid the rubble and ruin. Palestinians are increasingly desperate for a ceasefire, saying there is nothing left to destroy. Debora Patta, CBS News, East Jerusalem. For more on this, I want to bring in Gregg Carlstrom. He is a Middle East correspondent with TheEconomist and joins us now from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gregg, you saw that report, or you saw those devastating images there. Why might prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want to order a full reoccupation of the Gaza Strip. Well, Tom, I think first, we don't know if he's actually going to order it. We will have some sense after this cabinet meeting tomorrow evening. But I think we'll only know that this is really happening it we see Israel calling up significant numbers of soldiers. There's a chance, that Netanyahu threatening this and leaking to the media that he wants to do it, is something that he's doing both for domestic political consumption, for his own right-wing supporters, some of whom support the idea, and also, as a way of putting some pressure on Hamas in these ongoing stop-start negotiations over a ceasefire. But it's something that if Netanyahu were to order it, if the Army were to go ahead and do it, would not have much support in Israel. The idea of occupying Gaza and setting up a military government there, it pulls around 25% in Israel. It's a small minority that supports it, mostly, again, right-wing voters who see it as a means to rebuilding Israeli settlements in Gaza. But most Israelis are opposed to it, the Army brass opposed to it, not only, as your correspondent said, because of the risk to the hostages, but also because of the strain it would put on the Army, which is already having a crisis of morale, which is having trouble with soldiers not reporting for Reserve duty. The last thing that the Army chief wants to do is a very large and ambitious occupation of Gaza that would require mobilizing an even larger number of reservists.

You bring up the issue of optics here. Because the war on the ground is one thing, but the war of public perception is certainly another. And in recent weeks, we've seen several countries call for a Palestinian state, something Israel is, obviously, against. How is that impacting the decision making at this point? It's a symbolic decision so far. We'll know in September if all of these countries are indeed going to recognize Palestine. France has promised to do it at the UN General Assembly next month. Britain and Canada have both said they'll do it, but with conditions. Britain is using it as a threat to try to extort some or extract some concessions from Israel, Canada using it as a means of pressure on the Palestinians. So we don't know if they're actually going to follow through next month. And even if they do, I think the question is, then what? You recognize Palestine. That doesn't fundamentally change the realities on the ground. Are you then prepared to take steps to try to pressure Israel to end the occupation, to come back to negotiations with the Palestinians? Are you going to consider punitive measures on Israel, or is recognition almost a box-ticking exercise? You can say, well, we recognize Palestine. We did something about this ever-worsening crisis in Gaza. And you avoid discussion of those more serious punitive policy changes. Gregg Carlstrom, with some really important analysis on a very, very important news story. Gregg, we appreciate your time. Thank you.