Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israel Defense Forces will begin a new military offensive in Gaza with the goal of controlling the entire Gaza Strip, before ultimately handing it over to Arab forces to govern the enclave.
“We intend to [take control of all of Gaza],” Netanyahu said in an interview on Fox News ahead of a significant security Cabinet meeting set for Thursday night. “We don’t want to keep Gaza. We want a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us.”
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If Israel ultimately expands its military operation in Gaza after roughly 22 months of war, it would likely do so in opposition from a significant number of global leaders, including some long-standing European allies. President Donald Trump has continued to support Netanyahu’s strategies in conducting the war.
With increasing concerns about starvation throughout Gaza, world leaders have pressured Netanyahu to allow more humanitarian aid, a stance that Trump supports. Israel has faced accusations from human rights groups that its military operations meet the criteria of a genocide, which both U.S. and Israeli officials strongly dispute.
Israel’s aerial and ground campaign has resulted in the flattening of much of Gaza’s infrastructure, the displacement of nearly the entire population in some cases several times, killing thousands of people, civilians and combatants alike, although exact numbers of casualties are not known. Simultaneously, Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages.
Should Israel move forward with a plan to occupy the entire strip, it could further strain a military that has been at war for nearly two years and carried out wars against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, forces in Syria, and against Iran.
Netanyahu did not specify what a military occupation in Gaza would include, nor did he elaborate on how long it would last, nor did he elaborate on what countries could be involved in the post-occupation Arab forces that would be involved in governing Gaza.
The negotiations to end the war between Israel and Hamas have failed to produce a breakthrough despite more than a year of these sometimes sporadic talks. The two sides have agreed to two short-term ceasefire deals that allowed for increased, desperately needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in exchange for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But the deals fell apart in both cases before the mediators could negotiate a long-term solution.
Israeli leaders maintain that they will not end the war completely until Hamas is demilitarized and removed from power in Gaza, while Hamas continues to hold about 50 Israeli hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, and while the terrorist organization refuses to give up the hostages unless Israel agrees to end the war indefinitely.
Netanyahu’s critics have accused him of trying to prolong the war for his own political standing.
ISRAELI LEADERS CLASH OVER FULL OCCUPATION OF GAZA DESPITE TRUMP’S CONSENT FOR INVASION
His comments on Thursday could also increase the pressure on Hamas to return to the negotiating table.
U.K. and French leaders announced in late July their intent to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. U.S. officials disagreed with their plans, arguing in line with the Israelis that doing so would amount to rewarding Hamas for carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that instigated Israel’s military operation.
“As long as Hamas exists as an armed group in Gaza, there will not be a peace — there will not be a peaceful future, because it’s going to happen again,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday on the Fox Business Network.