Gaza plan
Netanyahu risks everything
Updated on July 29, 2025 – 10:50 p.m.Reading time: 4 min.
Netanyahu’s plan for gradual annexation of gaza areas takes concrete forms. What is presented as a military strategy probably also serves another purpose.
Benjamin Netanyahu not only fights against the terrorist organization Hamas – he also fights for the survival of his political career. The Israeli government is unstable that lost the majority in the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – that grows in domestic political pressure.
The prime minister is therefore apparently becoming a controversial means: the gradual annexation of parts of the Gaza Strip. According to media reports, he wants to present this plan to his security cabinet-combined with an ultimatum to the radical-Islamic Hamas, to agree to an armistice within days. Otherwise, Israeli troops are supposed to occupy areas, initially in the buffer zone, later in northern Gazas.
The Prime Minister had already announced in May that Israeli soldiers should remain stationed in conquered areas. The goal is a permanent presence – and, as it said, a resettlement of the Palestinian population “to protect”. Even then, many people in Gaza reacted with horror. What appeared like an extreme scenario at the time is now taking shape.
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What acts like a military strategic step is apparently also domestic calculation. The ultra -right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich had put Netanyahu under pressure and announced that the alliance can be announced, the premier should continue to show up. Annexion – it could also be a radical concession to a coalition partner who once described himself as “fascist homophobic”.
Another reason for Netanyahu’s uncompromising course may be in personal: The Prime Minister threatens the continuation of his own corruption process after the war. As long as the war lasts, it is politically unassailable – if it would actually come to a ceasefire, it could also endanger its immunity.
Observers in Israel and International Media point out that Netanyahu should appear back to court after the end of the fighting. It is about acceptance, fraud and infidelity – allegations that have been burdening his career for a long time.
It is clear to his opponents: The Premier has a self -interest in extending the conflict. As long as Israel is in the war, he remains a premier. And as long as he is a prime minister, he remains legally protected.
The plan is more than a domestic maneuver. It would mean a historical break: Annexion would be illegal under international law. Politically, it would seal the final failure of the two -state solution – that diplomatic vision that founded peace initiatives for decades.
Internationally, Israel’s government is criticized for your approach, but in many cases only behavior. The United States, who tried to convey a ceasefire in Qatar, have now deducted its negotiators. US President Donald Trump expressed criticism of the humanitarian situation, but in fact left Netanyahu the field.
The backing of the population to Netanyahu’s politics is disappearing-the anger about the security disaster of October 7, 2023, as terrorists from Hamas Israel over, and thus triggered the Gaza War, the protests of the hostage families are too loud. They accuse the government of wanting to “sacrifice” their family members. To get the abducted back, seem to be secondary – it is obviously more important to “conquer land”, according to the forum of the hostage families.
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu still insists on a complete breakdown of Hamas. Israel had to do two tasks, Netanyahu said when visiting the headquarters of the military secret service: the destruction of the Palestinian organization and the liberation of all hostages still remaining in Gaza. “We don’t give it up for a minute. These are two intertwined goals,” emphasized Netanyahu.
According to western observers, Hamas is largely beaten. Her leaders were killed and their military infrastructure was badly damaged. Israel now controls about seventy percent of the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, the war continues – probably not out of strategic necessity, but out of political fear of survival.
