Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich declared on Monday that Israel would not withdraw its forces from Gaza—even if another deal to release hostages is reached. Smotrich urged the Israeli public to stop shying away from the term “occupation,” following the cabinet’s approval of expanded military operations that reportedly include seizing control of additional areas in Gaza.
The government’s decision and Smotrich’s comments drew swift backlash from both opposition leaders and hostage families, who accused officials of prioritizing military conquest over rescuing those still held captive in Gaza.
“We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation,’” Smotrich said in a conversation with Channel 12’s Amit Segal at a Besheva newspaper event.
Smotrich explained that Israel now aims to gain full control over the flow of humanitarian aid to prevent it from being diverted by Hamas, and laid out what he described as a strategy to separate Hamas from Gaza’s civilian population, destroy the terror group, and secure the hostages’ return. “We are finally taking control of all humanitarian aid, so that it does not become supplies for Hamas. We are separating Hamas from the population, cleansing the Strip, bringing back the hostages — and defeating Hamas,” he said. He added emphatically, “no retreat from the territories we have conquered, not even in exchange for hostages.”
He further argued that surrendering territory would ultimately endanger Israelis. “The only way to release the hostages is to subdue Hamas. Any retreat will bring about the next October 7,” he said.
Smotrich acknowledged that permanent sovereignty over Gaza was not officially declared as a war goal, but suggested it may come later. “Once as we occupy and stay [in Gaza] we can talk about sovereignty [there]. But I did not demand that this be included among the goals of the war. First, we will defeat Hamas and prevent it from existing,” Smotrich said.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar, in an interview with Kan, echoed the objective of seizing the entire Strip. “The complete occupation of the Strip” is now the mission, he said. Zohar admitted that such a campaign poses risks to the hostages. “Such a move endangers those who remain in captivity,” he noted, but added, “there is no choice left.”
Zohar, who is not a member of the security cabinet, suggested that efforts to bring home the hostages have shaped the war strategy until now. He said the new offensive could shift Hamas’s stance. “Because we wanted to bring as many hostages home as possible,” the war has dragged on, Zohar said. “Hamas may soon realize that it has no choice but to return [the hostages] and exile itself from Gaza,” he added.
The government’s newly approved plan also involves restructuring how humanitarian aid is distributed in Gaza, aiming to remove Hamas’s ability to seize and manipulate supplies. While Israeli officials have released few details, the plan has already sparked harsh reactions from Hamas and condemnation from global bodies.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum issued a scathing response Monday, accusing the government of forsaking those still in captivity. “Choosing territory over hostages,” they charged, saying that “this is against the will of over 70 percent of the people.”
Public polling has consistently indicated that most Israelis support a hostage release deal even if it would require halting military operations in Gaza.
“The plan approved by the cabinet deserves the name ‘Smotrich-Netanyahu Plan’ for giving up on the hostages and its abandonment of national and security resilience,” the forum added.
Throughout the war, Smotrich and other figures on the far-right have urged that Israel use the conflict as an opening to rebuild Jewish settlements in Gaza—settlements that were dismantled during Israel’s 2005 disengagement.
On Monday, during a heated moment in the Knesset, Einav Zangauker—the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker—blasted coalition lawmakers. “I want to know what the hell you’re thinking, doing this,” she shouted, urging reservists to refuse deployment.
She accused the government of launching an operation that would cost both the hostages’ and soldiers’ lives. “The cabinet decided to send heroic soldiers to an operation that will result in the murder of hostages in captivity, and the loss of soldiers,” she said. “You think the nation will take this in silence?”
Zangauker referenced the recent large-scale call-up of reservists, asking how she could respond to a mother whose sons were summoned. “Yesterday a mother of soldiers who were called up to reserves asked me what she should say to them. How should I have answered her?”
Likud MK Simcha Rothman replied, “I would tell her that of course they should go. I recommend we be careful here about calls for refusal.”
That response sparked more fury from Zangauker. “I’m not calling for refusal! Don’t put words in my mouth, I said not to show up to reserves for moral and ethical reasons!” She pointed out that her own daughter is a reservist.
{Matzav.com Israel}