Israeli minister calls for Gaza annexation if Hamas doesn't surrender

2025-08-28 22:02:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on his government to begin annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas – the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union – refuses to surrender.

The far-right minister, who has been vocal against a 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 held in Jerusalem.

Under Smotrich's proposal, Hamas would be given an ultimatum to surrender, disarm, and release hostages still being held in Gaza since the radical Palestinian group's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war.

If Hamas refuses, Smotrich said Israel should annex a portion of territory each week and complete the annexation in four weeks, bringing the Gaza Strip under full Israeli control.

According to Smorich, Palestinians would initially be told to relocate to southern Gaza, after Israel surrounded the northern and central parts of the territory to defeat any remaining Hamas militants, and then the state would annex the territory.

"This can be achieved in three to four months," he said.

His statements come as Israeli forces are launching a major offensive aimed at taking control of Gaza City - the territory's largest city - despite growing concerns about the fate of Palestinian civilians there.

The vast majority of Gaza's over 2 million residents have been displaced at least once during the war.

Smotrich called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "approve this plan in its entirety immediately."

He is one of several right-wing members of Israel's ruling coalition who have expressed support for resettling settlements in the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew troops and settlers in 2005.

Smotrich, a supporter of the settler movement and himself a resident of a settlement in the occupied West Bank, last week authorized a major project in that territory, which critics say threatens the territorial integrity of any future Palestinian state.

He stated that the settlement project in the area known as E1, east of Jerusalem, aims to "bury the idea of ??a Palestinian state."/ REL