Netanyahu's Gaza takeover plan is bad for Hamas and worse for Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to fully occupy the Gaza Strip to achieve his war objectives in the region. He claimed that he is not planning to annexe the strip but will surely escalate his military offensive in the region. Even after extreme criticism from various countries and leaders from his own nation, the Israeli PM kept insisting that this was the only way Israel could achieve its biggest objective in Gaza - which is the fall of Hamas. On August 8, Netanyahu repeated his claim, saying, "We are not going to occupy Gaza - we are going to free Gaza from Hamas. Gaza will be demilitarised, and a peaceful civilian administration will be established, one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organisation."

"This will help free our hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future," he added.

But here is certainly something that the Israeli PM might be missing. His master plan might create problems for the Palestinian terror group, but it would not be beneficial for his people either. After Gazans, people who will be adversely affected by Netanyahu's occupation plan will be the Israeli hostages trapped in Gaza.

'Will not be a picnic'

Hamas said on August 8 in a stern warning that Netanyahu's plan to occupy the region "is an adventure that will cost it a heavy price and will not be a picnic." The group added, "Our people and their resistance are resilient to being broken or surrendered, and Netanyahu's plans and illusions will fail."

Moreover, Hamas even said that they were ready to release all the hostages from Gaza in exchange for stopping the war and withdrawing its forces. But Netanyahu has not responded to this offer yet. Rather, he posted on X reaffiring his plan. This raised doubts around Netanyahu's claim that releasing the hostages is his priority.

The militant group said that “Netanyahu’s plans to escalate the aggression confirm beyond any doubt his desire to get rid of the captives and sacrifice them in pursuit of his personal interests and extremist ideological agenda."

‘A disaster for generations’

The Israeli opposition also slammed the present government by calling the latest plan a "disaster" that will lead to more deaths of Israeli people. The Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that the plan was made in “complete contradiction to the opinion of the military and security ranks.”

Lapid added that the National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich “dragged” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “into a move that will take months, lead to the deaths of the hostages, the killing of many soldiers, cost tens of billions to the Israeli taxpayer, and lead to a political collapse."

“This is exactly what Hamas wanted: for Israel to be trapped in the field without a goal, without defining the picture of the day after, in a useless occupation that no one understands where it is leading," he said.

Israelis protest the plan

Hundreds of Israelis gathered outside Netanyahu's office on Friday to protest against his plan to escalate the war in Gaza, citing the lives of the hostages held by Hamas. Not just that, over a hundred UK-based Israelis and allies led by the grassroots activist group Mi-neged staged a protest outside the Foreign Office to put pressure on Keir Starmer to impose immediate sanctions on Israel and end the war.

What does Netanyahu really want?

As per BBC, many Israeli leaders believe that the reason behind Netanyahu prolonging the conflict is to ensure a guarantee of his coalition's survival - which is solely based on the support of ultranationalist ministers who have threatened to quit the government if the war ends.

This does make sense as the country is already 305 days into the war and Netanyahu is yet to offer a vision for Gaza. It also must be noted that the October 7 attack killed around 1,200 people, and 251 were taken as hostages by Hamas. Meanwhile, Israel's military occupation in Gaza has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, as per the region's health ministry.