Israel-Gaza war: Benjamin Netanyahu warns of new ‘intensive’ Gaza offensive, MP says goal is to ‘conquer’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a new offensive in the Gaza Strip will be an intensive military operation aimed at defeating Hamas but has stopped short of detailing just how much of the enclave’s territory will be seized.

An Israeli defence official said the operation would not be launched before US President Donald Trump concludes his visit next week to the Middle East.

The decision, after weeks of faltering efforts to agree a ceasefire with Hamas, underlines the threat that a war heaping international pressure on Israel amid dwindling public support at home could continue with no end in sight.

A report by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, citing officials with knowledge of the details, said the new plan was gradual and would take months, with forces focusing first on one area of the battered enclave.

Mr Netanyahu said in a video message the operation would be “intensive” and would see more Palestinians in the Gaza Strip moved “for their own safety”.

He said Israeli troops would not follow previous tactics based on short raids by forces based outside the enclave.

“The intention is the opposite,” he said, echoing comments from other Israeli officials who have said Israel would hold on to the ground it has seized.

Israeli troops have already taken over an area amounting to about a third of the Gaza Strip, displacing the population and building watchtowers and surveillance posts on cleared ground the military has described as security zones but the new plan would go further.

One Israeli official said the newly approved offensive would seize the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, move its civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’ hands.

The defence official said aid distribution, which has been handled by international aid groups and United Nations organisations, would be transferred to private companies and handed out in the southern area of Rafah once the offensive begins.

The Israeli military, which throughout the war has shown little appetite for occupying the Gaza Strip, declined to comment on the remarks by government officials and politicians.

Israel resumed its offensive in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months.

It has since imposed an aid blockade, drawing warnings from the UN that the 2.3 million population faces imminent famine.

The defence official said Israel would hold on to security zones seized along the Gaza Strip perimeter because they were vital for protecting Israeli communities around the enclave.

But he said there was a “window of opportunity” for a ceasefire and hostage release deal during Trump’s visit.

“If there is no hostage deal, Operation ‘Gideon Chariots’ will begin with great intensity and will not stop until all its goals are achieved,” he said.

Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi rejected what he called “pressure and blackmail”.

“No deal except a comprehensive one, which includes a complete ceasefire, full withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the release of all prisoners from both sides,” he said.

Israel has yet to present a clear vision for a post-war Gaza Strip after a campaign that has displaced most of the enclave’s population and left it depending on aid supplies that have been dwindling rapidly since the blockade.

“We are finally going to conquer Gaza. We are no longer afraid of the word ‘occupation’,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a pro-settler conference in an online discussion.

However, opinion polls suggest the Israeli public increasingly wants a deal to bring back the remaining 59 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip and there were angry scenes outside parliament with dozens of protesters scuffling with police.

“All the families are tired,” said Ruby Chen, whose son Itay was killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

“All the families have been scared about this new manoeuvring because there is no guarantee that it will get us to where the families want.”

The war was triggered by the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli tallies, and involved 251 people being taken hostage.

Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to local health authorities, and left much of Gaza in ruins.