Netanyahu: Israel seeks to ‘liberate Gaza from Hamas,’ not rule it, amid criticism over war expansion

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained his decision to take over the entire Gaza Strip in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, which was published several hours before the Cabinet instructed the IDF to carry out the plan.

On Friday morning, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) officially announced the decision, sparking a torrent of criticism both internationally and within Israel.

In what appeared to be an effort to pre-empt criticism, Netanyahu outlined the reasons for the new operation in an interview with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer.

“We want to liberate ourselves and liberate the people of Gaza from the awful terror of Hamas,” the prime minister explained, while emphasizing that the operation wasn’t aimed at occupying Gaza in the long term.

“We don't wanna keep it. We want to have a security perimeter, and we don't want to govern it. We want to give it to Arab forces that will govern it properly and not threaten us,” he said.

“The only way that you're [going to] have a different future is to get rid of this neo-Nazi army. The Hamas are monsters.”

The PMO stated that the “establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority” was now one of the five core principles for concluding the war, without going into more detail.

Israel’s opposition leaders, as well as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum – which had warned that the expansion of fighting would endanger the hostages – sharply condemned the Cabinet’s decision.

The government “sentenced the living hostages to death – and the fallen hostages to disappearance,” the forum claimed, saying the decision was a “declaration of the abandonment of the hostages, in complete disregard of repeated warnings from the military leadership and the clear will of the majority of the Israeli public.”

“This government – under which the gravest disaster to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust occurred – has tonight, on its own initiative, advanced yet another disaster. It is leading us into a colossal catastrophe for both the hostages and the soldiers,” the forum said.

The statement continued: Israel must “stop this dangerous course of action,” warning that it wouldn’t “stand by.”

“The only way to bring back the hostages is through a comprehensive deal. No more futile war… We demand a comprehensive deal now!”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the new military operation in Gaza would be “a disaster that will lead to many more disasters.”

“Ben Gvir and Smotrich dragged Netanyahu into a move that will take months, lead to the death of the hostages, the killing of many soldiers, cost tens of billions to the Israeli taxpayer, and lead to a political collapse,” he wrote on 𝕏.

Yisrael Beitenu party chairman, Avigdor Liberman, said that the Cabinet’s decision, despite objections from the army leadership, “proves that life-and-death decisions are being made in opposition to security considerations and the war’s objectives.”

The decision is “a disaster for generations,” said Yair Golan, head of Israel's "The Democrats" party.

He added that Netanyahu is “weak, easily pressured, lacking decision-making ability, and without the capacity to bridge between what the professional level presents and the group of messianists controlling the government.”

“Our sons and grandsons will still patrol the alleys of Gaza, we will pay hundreds of billions over the years, and all this for reasons of political survival and messianic visions,” Golan warned.

The government’s decision, which had been discussed before its approval throughout the week, was also met with international opposition.

A Jordanian official told Reuters on Thursday that the Arab states would “only support what Palestinians agree and decide on.”

“Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,” the source said. “Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu's policies, nor clean up his mess.”

Egypt reportedly sent a warning to the U.S. that the decision would cause Hamas to execute the last living Israeli hostages, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar wrote.

The report added that Egyptian officials have kept demanding that both Israel and Hamas return to the negotiating table.

On Friday morning, UN human rights chief Volker Turk, who has vocally criticized Israel throughout the war, said that “the Israeli Government’s plan for a complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted.”

“It runs contrary to the ruling of the International Court of Justice that Israel must bring its occupation to an end as soon as possible, to the realisation of the agreed two-State solution and to the right of Palestinians to self-determination,” Turk stated.

One of the first major world leaders to respond to the decision was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who urged the Israeli government to “reconsider it immediately."

“The Israeli Government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong,” he said, adding it would “do nothing to bring an end to this conflict or to help secure the release of the hostages. It will only bring more bloodshed.”

Turkey denounced Israel’s plan to take control of Gaza as a “heavy blow” to peace and security.

“We call on the international community to fulfil its responsibilities to prevent the implementation of this decision, which aims to forcibly displace Palestinians from their own land,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated.