"We're
committing to free Gaza from the tyranny of these terrorists," Netanyahu
said in a video address posted on X. "Many Gazans come to us and they say
'Help us be free. Help us be free of Hamas.' and that's what we will do."
The Prime Minister's Office also said in a message to the
Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, "If this does not suit you,
then you should resign."
Netanyahu and Zamir have been at odds with the way the war
in Gaza is being fought, with those tensions "having reached their
peak" on Monday, according to a report on Israeli Army Radio.
Netanyahu's announcement comes after months of faltering
talks in Qatar between Israel and Hamas as mediators scramble to overcome
hurdles from both sides and reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal as the
humanitarian situation in the Strip deteriorates.
That
proposal, in the form of a 32-page academic paper titled "Gaza Security
and Recovery Program, How Should The Day After Look Like," was authored by
the Israel Defence and Security Forum, a group of over 35,000 Israeli security
force reservists and the think tank Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign
Affairs.
The study was presented to the Israeli government at an
unknown date and represents one of the future options currently under
consideration by Israel for the Gaza Strip.
The proposal entails economic reconstruction, building
infrastructure and, as the authors of the study say, "uprooting a
murderous ideology," also labelled as a process of
"de-Nazification."
"In order to prepare for the new state of affairs, even
though the results of the military operation have not yet been achieved, it is
necessary to prepare an orderly plan for the control of the Gaza Strip after
the fall of Hamas," the document reads.
The
plan explicitly excludes the sovereignty of Palestine, or more specifically the
Palestinian Authority (PA), or the presence of the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a source for
humanitarian aid.
"No less serious is the foolhardy idea of establishing
a Palestinian state in Gaza," the document reads.
However, it is not said in the document whether Israel
intends to annex the Strip, although it is clearly stated that Israeli military
(IDF) wants to have a greater say in the overall administration of Gaza's
affairs.
Netanyahu's comments on Monday contradict those of Israel's
Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, who told Euronews last month that Israel
doesn’t have "any intention" of controlling Gaza long term.
"We don't have any intention to do so," Sa’ar
said. "With regard to the Gaza Strip, we have only security
concerns."
"We will implement President Trump's plan, it is a good
plan and makes a difference, and it means something very simple, that the
residents of Gaza who want to leave can leave," Netanyahu said, referring
to a proposal floated by Trump of resettling all of Gaza's population in other
countries.
The plan was met with horror by regional countries and
international humanitarian groups, who said the forced resettlement of the
population would be a violation of international law.
Trump said he had plans to re-develop Gaza in the
"Riviera of the Middle East" with upmarket resort hotels and shopping
malls.
