Smotrich: IDF needs to intensify Gaza offensive, conquer the Strip

Finance Minister slams Israel’s Gaza strategy, warns government has “no right” to lead without full conquest of the Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) said that the Israeli military is not fighting hard enough in Gaza, adding that the current coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “no right” to continue governing if it does not intend to “conquer” the enclave.

“I said unequivocally that we would return to fighting in a completely different way: aiming to subdue, to defeat, to destroy Hamas, to conquer the Gaza Strip and impose military rule on it, to take territory and signal internally and externally that anyone who messes with us is demolished,” Smotrich said in a Monday night interview with Channel 14 TV News.

“But unfortunately, this isn’t what is happening,” he emphasized. “I think it’s time to charge at Gaza. If that doesn’t happen, this government has no justification for its existence.”

Smotrich has long held that a decisive victory over Hamas in Gaza is critical for ensuring the future security of the State of Israel.

During the interview, Smotrich said that current military actions in the Strip fall short of a full-scale war.

Earlier on Monday, Smotrich sparked controversy by stressing that defeating Hamas – not freeing all of the hostages – is the most important goal of the ongoing fighting.

In early April, after dozens of people were wounded in a massive Hamas rocket attack on the southern city of Ashkelon, Smotrich said that the IDF must continue its offensive against the terror group.

“If anyone needed a reminder of why we must not stop a moment before destroying Hamas, they received it tonight in the form of the rocket launches that came from Gaza to the cities of the south,” Smotrich wrote on social media platform X.