In a decisive shift, PM Netanyahu confirms Israel’s intention to fully seize Gaza, eliminate Hamas, and transfer control to Arab forces free from terror ties.
In a high-stakes interview with Fox News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made one of his most unambiguous declarations yet: Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip—not to occupy, but to obliterate Hamas’s grip and pave the way for a post-terrorist future for both Israelis and Gazans.
“We intend to [take control] to ensure our security, remove Hamas, and hand over Gaza to a civilian authority that neither seeks Israel’s destruction nor enslaves its own people,” Netanyahu told host Bill Hemmer, who had just returned from Gaza.
The Prime Minister stressed that Gazan civilians are themselves hostages of Hamas’s tyranny. “Finally, some Gazans are daring to speak out. They want a future. And they’ll never have it as long as Hamas—this neo-Nazi monster—remains,” he stated firmly.
Crushing Hamas is now Israel’s declared endgame.
Sources close to Netanyahu confirmed earlier this week that the decision has been made: Gaza will be conquered militarily as part of Operation Swords of Iron. A crucial Security Cabinet vote is imminent.
Netanyahu was also asked if this marks a reversal of Israel’s 2005 Gaza Disengagement.
“We don’t want to govern Gaza,” he clarified. “We want a security perimeter, but we want to hand over Gaza to Arab forces who don’t threaten us and who can give its people a future. That’s impossible with Hamas in control.”
This renewed clarity follows the collapse of hostage negotiations, as Hamas released disturbing propaganda videos showing hostages emaciated and tortured—proof, Israeli officials say, that diplomacy is futile and force is now the only remaining language Hamas understands.
Currently, Israel holds about 75% of Gaza, but military restraint in certain areas has been deliberate to avoid endangering the hostages. However, a cascade of recent international moves—especially announcements by France, Canada, and the UK to recognize a Palestinian state next month regardless of Hamas’s ongoing terror—has convinced Israeli leaders that the West’s appeasement tactics only embolden Hamas.
“We want to liberate ourselves, and the people of Gaza, from this nightmare,” Netanyahu declared. “This ends when Hamas ends.”
