Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has called on his government to begin annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas – designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union – refuses to surrender.
The far-right minister, a vocal opponent of any deal with Hamas to end the nearly two-year war, presented his plan for “victory in Gaza by the end of the year” during a press conference in Jerusalem.
Under Smotrich’s proposal, Hamas would be given an ultimatum to surrender, disarm, and release the hostages still held in Gaza since the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the ongoing conflict.
If Hamas refuses, Smotrich said Israel should annex parts of Gaza week by week, completing the takeover within four weeks and bringing the territory under full Israeli control.
According to him, Palestinians would first be instructed to move south, while Israel would encircle the northern and central parts of Gaza to eliminate remaining Hamas militants, before annexing the area. “This can be achieved within three to four months,” he stated.
His comments come as Israeli forces intensify a major offensive to seize control of Gaza City – the largest urban center in the Strip – amid mounting concerns over the plight of Palestinian civilians. Most of Gaza’s more than two million residents have already been displaced at least once since the war began.
Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “immediately adopt this plan in full.”
He is among several right-wing members of Israel’s ruling coalition who support re-establishing settlements in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005.
A staunch backer of the settler movement and himself a resident of a West Bank settlement, Smotrich last week authorized a major project in the occupied territory. Critics warn the project threatens the territorial integrity of any future Palestinian state. Smotrich has openly said the plan in the E1 zone, east of Jerusalem, is meant to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state.”
