Israel’s Smotrich puts forward radical Gaza annexation plan
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called on the government to begin annexing parts of Gaza if Hamas refuses to disarm, a proposal far beyond Israel’s planned Gaza City offensive, which the UN has condemned.
A staunch opponent of any ceasefire deal with Hamas, Smotrich said his annexation plan – illegal under international law – would allow Israel to “win in Gaza by the end of the year”.
At a news conference in Jerusalem, he said Israel should give Hamas an ultimatum: surrender, disarm and release remaining captives, or Israel will take control of one section of Gaza each week for four weeks.
He added that Palestinians would be forcibly displaced southward while Israel imposes a siege on the north and central Gaza to target remaining Hamas fighters, concluding with full annexation.
“This can be achieved in three to four months,” he said, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to adopt this plan in full immediately”.
Netanyahu adviser Dermer met Trump, said Israel demands Gaza be governed without Hamas: Report
Israeli official Ron Dermer met US President Trump and other senior officials at the White House yesterday, saying Israel’s main demand to end the war in Gaza is that control of the enclave be handed to an authority other than Hamas, US news site Axios reports.
The meeting also included US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who presented ideas on post-war governance and reconstruction, according to Axios.
Trump unexpectedly invited Dermer, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs and a close confidant of Prime Minister Netanyahu, to share Israel’s perspective, the report says.
Citing an unnamed source “with direct knowledge,” Axios reports that Dermer claimed Israel “doesn’t want to occupy Gaza for good and doesn’t want to expel the Palestinian population”, despite a push from some within its government to do so.
However, he said Israel insists that Gaza be governed by an authority other than Hamas. “Dermer’s message was: As long as our conditions are met, we will be flexible about everything else,” Axios quotes the source as saying.
