We're shifting our focus now back to the latest news in the Israel-Hamas War.

The Israeli cabinet is in a marathon session, still meeting after 1 a.m. local time,

debating whether or not to completely reoccupy the Gaza Strip militarily.

For perspective on this, we get two views.

David Makovsky, the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policies Project on Arab-Israel Relations,

and Yusuf Munair is the head of the Palestine-Israel program and senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C.

Thank you both for being with us. David, I'll start with you. Do you see this notion of Israel completely

reoccupying the Gaza Strip. Is this a genuine military strategy,

or is this a political tactic to pressure Hamas and to ceasefire talks?

We don't know for sure. I think the latter is very plausible, because if you look at all

the news reporting, it's been kind of scaled down in the last 24 hours. Instead of this idea of a

blitz through these remaining cities that would go on for five months, they're not talking about

dropping leaflets and then maybe encircling the city and then doing raids in and out. But there's

clearly differences between the

Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff, the military chief of the IDF, wants to go slower and

does not want to go in. He's worried the hostages will die. He's worried soldiers are get killed.

He's worried that innocent people and gods will be killed. So, but I but the prime minister has set out such an ambitious goal

that you wonder that what could start as a political ploy if it doesn't go the way he wants

to pressure Hamas to come back to the table might have a dynamic of its own. We just don't know yet.

Yusuf, how do you see it? And when Israeli officials talk about a full occupation, what exactly does that mean on the ground

in practical terms?

Right.

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