SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
There's been growing criticism around the world following Israel's announcement it plans to take control of Gaza City. The U.N. Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting today, and foreign ministers of five countries have condemned Israel's widening military operation. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley is in Tel Aviv. Eleanor, thanks for being with us.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: And tell us about this reaction to the Israeli government's decision.
BEARDSLEY: Well, the foreign ministers of Australia, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Britain all strongly condemn the Israel's government's decision to launch a new large-scale military operation. They say it risks violating international humanitarian law. And, Scott, Germany, one of Israel's staunchest longtime supporters, along with the U.S. - obviously, due to historical reasons, the Holocaust - said it will stop exporting military equipment to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip, and Israelis I was talking to say that is huge.
SIMON: Tell us about what you hear from Israelis.
BEARDSLEY: Well, I can tell you many people are in shock.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in Hebrew).
BEARDSLEY: Yesterday, I went to a town south of Tel Aviv where the families of hostages held a protest Shabbat, or Sabbath, dinner near the defense minister's home, and they shouted out in megaphones that they wished him a, quote, "Black Sabbath." There was a tent set up and a place set at the table for 50 hostages, the ones still in Gaza, alive and dead. And I spoke with 68-year-old retiree Yaffa Friedman (ph), who lives here. She was a major in the Israeli army. Here she is.
YAFFA FRIEDMAN: I think it's the most worst decision that our government has got ever. I think it's going to kill all the hostages. I see no reason to do it. If you'll ask me, let's stop the war a year ago.
BEARDSLEY: You know, Scott, I also spoke with the cousin of former hostage Carmel Gat. The 40-year-old was shot by her Hamas captors last year when Israeli troops stormed the city of Rafah. And her cousin, Gil Dickmann, told me the army is making the same mistake if it goes into Gaza City.
GIL DICKMANN: That's what they did in Rafah. They decided to go inside Rafah and to move with enormous power of the IDF, and hostages were killed. My cousin was killed because of this decision.
BEARDSLEY: You know, both of these people also expressed alarm over the huge suffering that this new offensive will bring on civilians in Gaza.
SIMON: And tell us, please, about what people in Gaza are saying.
BEARDSLEY: Well, Scott, the suffering and starvation there is massive and will likely get worse. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza City, one of the last parts of the enclave that is not occupied by Israeli forces. Now, NPR's producer on the ground, Anas Baba, spoke to 51-year-old Ali Abu al-Hanafi (ph), who's already lost his house and two children in the war. He says he's not leaving.
ALI ABU AL-HANAFI: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: He says, "I fled south once already, and it was full of torture. They've destroyed everything - people, houses, trees. There's nowhere to go," he said.
SIMON: And, Eleanor, back to Israel, how do you see events playing out?
BEARDSLEY: Well, I'm going to refer back to Yaffa Friedman, who was at that Sabbath dinner. I asked her, why is this happening if so many people seem to be against it? You know, Scott, a poll out last month found that 80% of Israelis want the war to end. And she said to me, quote, "the country is being held hostage by a few far-right extremist ministers. These are the ones Netanyahu relies on for the survival of his government." And they've made no secret, Scott, of the fact that they want, you know, Palestinians to leave Gaza, and they want to build Jewish settlements there.
Now, Netanyahu's government put out a statement with five principles of this plan, which include disarming Hamas and establishing an alternative civil administration there that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. Scott, already 500 former intelligence officers and military commanders of the IDF say, there are no more military goals, so let's end this war. And today, Scott, 300 Israeli architects and urban planners have called to stop the destruction and to rebuild Gaza. They say 300,000 homes have been destroyed, as well as hospitals, schools, mosques, farmland. And the list goes on.
SIMON: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much for being with us.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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