Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday that he will intensify the ongoing war in Gaza and proceed with the plan proposed by the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump for the resettlement of Palestinians from the blockaded enclave.
Speaking at the start of a government session, Netanyahu said that “a combination of military and political pressure is the only way to retrieve the hostages, not the empty slogans I hear in TV studios.”
Israeli media reported that these remarks were a direct criticism aimed at prominent Israeli analysts and families of the hostages, who warned that Israeli military actions endanger the hostages and accused the prime minister of prioritizing his personal political gain over their rescue.
Netanyahu claims that military pressure is working, stating that it is weakening Hamas’s capabilities and creating conditions for the release of the hostages.
“We will implement Trump’s plan, the voluntary migration plan. This is our strategy, and we are ready to discuss it at any time,” he added.
An emergency Arab summit on Palestine, held on March 4th in Cairo, adopted a five-year plan worth 53 billion dollars for the reconstruction of Gaza without the displacement of its residents.
Israel and the U.S. rejected this Arab initiative, instead advocating for Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which strongly oppose the idea, along with other Arab states and international organizations.
The Israeli military launched a new wave of airstrikes on Gaza on March 18th, killing more than 920 people, wounding over 2.000 others, and violating the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
Nearly 50.300 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and over 114.000 have been wounded in Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza since October 2023.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide lawsuit before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
