Netanyahu To Propose a US-Supported Plan To Annex Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to propose to his political-security cabinet a US-supported plan to begin annexing the Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported on Monday.

The report said that the plan is being proposed to appease Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and prevent him from quitting the government. Smotrich is angry over Netanyahu’s steps to slightly increase humanitarian aid shipments into Gaza amid international outrage over the starvation deaths in Gaza caused by the Israeli siege.

Under the plan, Israel will declare that it is giving Hamas a few days to agree to a ceasefire, the conditions of which are unclear. Hamas’s position is that it’s willing to free all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for a permanent truce, but Israel has only entertained the idea of a temporary ceasefire.

If Hamas doesn’t agree to the proposal, Israel will then begin annexing territory with Gaza. It will start by annexing the “buffer zone” it created along Gaza’s border with Israel and areas in northern Gaza that are adjacent to the Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, with the ultimate goal of annexing the entire Palestinian territory.