"Total military occupation" or a tight siege on some urban centers that are Hamas hotbeds. These are two of the options that, according to the media, Benjamin Netanyahu's government is considering for the future of the Gaza Strip. Channel 12, reported by the Times of Israel, reported that the two options were on the agenda of the restricted meeting of the security cabinet, where the prime minister convened several ministers yesterday. A siege would entail a blockade of aid, shortly after Tel Aviv announced in recent days that it would allow greater quantities of food to enter the enclave.
Israeli TV Kan reconstructed the incident by reporting that the Israel Defense Forces – which recently claimed to already control about 75% of the Strip – would “drastically expand” their ground operations in the enclave, even in areas where they have not yet operated, to “tighten” the pressure on Hamas. The station did not specify which areas of Gaza the operations would focus on, but they likely involve the areas where hostages are believed to be being held – a move Israel had largely avoided until now.
The liberal daily Haaretz reports that this is an attempt by Netanyahu to prevent Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from withdrawing his far-right party, Religious Zionism, from the government. According to the opposition newspaper, the plan calls for Israel to declare its intention to give Hamas a few days to accept a ceasefire, failing which it will begin annexing areas of the Gaza Strip. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly presented the plan to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, gaining the support of the White House, despite President Donald Trump being in Scotland at the time of the meeting.
While National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party that props up the government, has spoken out strongly against the recent shift in aid policy, Smotrich has remained publicly silent on the issue, pressuring Netanyahu behind the scenes. According to Haaretz, Israel would first annex areas in the “buffer zone” along the Gaza border, followed by areas in the northern Gaza Strip near the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, and gradually continue until most or all of the territory is annexed. The prime minister, faced with a government on the brink of collapse following the departure of the ultra-Orthodox parties,"is willing to consider promoting such a plan" in order to save himself, even given his concerns about the annexation of Gaza.
After days of silence, Smotrich spoke again today: Gaza is"an inseparable part of the Land of Israel," and although a return to the settlements abandoned by Israel in 2005 has long been a "wishful thought," it is now a "realistic" option."We don't want to return to Gush Katif (the main Israeli settlement bloc in the Strip before the disengagement, home to around 8,500 people in 17 communities, ed.): it's too small, it needs to be much bigger, much more extensive," said the Finance Minister. He appealed to Netanyahu:"There is no more opportune time" to annex the West Bank as well.
Regarding truce talks with Hamas, a senior security official told Channel 12: “The United States must put a gun on the table and force Qatar to choose between Hamas's interests and its own. The United States is the only player that can bring Hamas back to the negotiating table. If it doesn't act, the situation will remain unchanged.” The terrorist group has said it remains interested in negotiating a deal and rejects claims by Israel and the United States—which the two countries cited as the reason for withdrawing their teams from Doha last week—that it is not taking the talks seriously.
