TEL AVIV — The decision to encircle and take control of Gaza City that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed through his security cabinet early Friday would expand Israeli control over the Gaza Strip in defiance of warnings by the country’s top military brass and entail the forced displacement of nearly a million Palestinians. 

Still, in an apparent concession to the military, the decision, announced after nine hours of deliberations, stops short of ordering the complete military takeover of the enclave. 

Currently home to an estimated 800,000 to one million people, Gaza City is also believed to be the location of some of the Hamas operatives holding 20 Israeli hostages who are still alive. While fighting Hamas for the past 21 months, the Israeli military has steered clear of occupying the densely populated city. Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned the security cabinet that his troops would be unable to guarantee the hostages’ lives if forced to move into the warrens of Gaza City. In fact, according to a Ynet report, by the end of the all-night session, Zamir was heard to say, "I suggest that you remove the return of the hostages from the war targets." Last year,  Hamas executed six hostages in Rafah, in southern Gaza, as Israeli troops neared their hideout in a tunnel.

'Charging full force into a disaster'