TEL AVIV — Is Israel readying to take control of the entire Gaza Strip with a view to annexing the territory, or is it only flexing its muscles in a continued bid to force Hamas to free the Israeli hostages it is holding?

“We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word 'occupation,'” hard-line Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told participants at a conference on Monday. “We will not retreat from the territories we have conquered, not even in exchange for hostages. The only way to release the hostages is to subdue Hamas. Once we occupy and stay in Gaza, we can talk about sovereignty.”

Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party, spoke a day after the government’s security committee approved the expansion of Israel’s 19-month war against Hamas. Unlike much of the offensive it launched following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the newly approved operation would entail a continued military presence in the Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that Israeli soldiers would no longer launch raids and then retreat, as they have been doing so far. 

Chariots of Gideon