Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again threatened that Israeli forces will remain in Gaza until the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated.
According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israeli forces could remain in the occupied areas of Gaza indefinitely.
The Israeli Prime Minister said that the Israeli army will remain in Gaza until Hamas is completely defeated and all hostages return home.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the cabinet has decided to further accelerate military operations in Gaza.
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Dufferin said that the new operation has been named “Gideon’s Chariots” and aims to return the hostages and end Hamas rule.
He added that the operation will involve moving the majority of Gaza’s population to areas where Hamas is not present in order to provide protection to civilians and give the Israeli army an opportunity to operate openly.
The Israeli military spokesman also said that the “Rafah model” will be implemented throughout Gaza, which means destroying all Hamas infrastructure and declaring the area part of Israel’s security buffer zone.
Israeli government ministers and security officials also say that the plan calls for the complete conquest of Gaza and the establishment of permanent Israeli military control there.
In addition, the plan will involve the transfer of the civilian population to the southern areas in order to create distance between Hamas and civilians.
On the other hand, some ministers have taken a more aggressive stance than Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that we are going to occupy Gaza, whether there is a hostage agreement or not. There is no need to be afraid of the word “occupation” anymore.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar also said that the main goal of the latest attack on Hamas is to completely occupy Gaza, even if it puts the lives of the hostages at risk.
However, the families of the hostages criticized the Israeli government, saying that it was giving importance to a piece of land instead of the hostages.
The families of the hostages say that 70 percent of the public is in favor of ending the war in exchange for the release of the hostages.
It should be remembered that on October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, in which about 1,500 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
Hamas fighters took these hostages with them from Israel to Gaza. Of these 250 Israeli hostages, 58 are still in Hamas captivity, of which 35 are feared dead.
In response to the Hamas attack, the Israeli army has been continuously bombing Gaza since October 8, 2023, in which about 60,000 Palestinians have been martyred so far, half of whom are women and children.
More than a million Palestinians have been displaced, while all major hospitals have been destroyed. Residential areas have been reduced to rubble.
