Smotrich presents plan to vanquish Hamas

Israel, in this scenario, will annex the security buffer zone established along the Gaza Strip border by the Israel Defense Forces and ensure security within the enclave with its own troops.

By JNS

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich presented a plan on Thursday to defeat Hamas in Gaza, saying that Israel “can and must” achieve total victory by the end of 2025.

“The State of Israel does not have the privilege of ending the campaign in Gaza without a victory. There is only one option—decisive victory,” Smotrich, who is also chairman of the Religious Zionism Party, said in a press conference.

The minister said that Israel must embark on this campaign and “bring it to an end. To destroy the total evil that inflicted the horrors of Oct. 7 upon us,” referring to the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in Israel’s northwestern Negev in 2023.

He went on to confront those who “irresponsibly call to surrender” to Hamas and those who doubt that victory is possible. “I state unequivocally: It is possible to win, and it can be done quickly,” Smotrich said.

The plan calls to issue an ultimatum on Hamas with the following conditions. The Islamist organization must surrender, releasing all the hostages in a single phase; laying down its weapons and dismantling its terrorist infrastructure; banishing its leaders and operatives from the Gaza Strip; and allowing free passage for civilians wishing to live elsewhere.

Israel, in this scenario, will annex the security buffer zone established along the Gaza Strip border by the Israel Defense Forces and ensure security within the enclave with its own troops.

If Hamas rejects these conditions, the IDF will launch an intensive ground operation and impose a siege on Gaza City and the central camps; Hamas will be severed from the civilian population: Israel will manage the humanitarian aid, block supplies from reaching Hamas and relocate civilians from areas designated as war zones; and apply its sovereignty over the Strip in gradual steps while also implementing U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to voluntarily relocate Gazans to other countries.

Israel owes defeating Hamas “to the fallen and their families, to the hostages and their families, to the brave IDF reservists, to the residents of the south, for the security of Israel, for the future of our children, for justice, for the Jewish people worldwide, and for the security of the entire Western world,” Smotrich said.

On Aug. 10, JNS reported that the Religious Zionism Party, increasingly exasperated with the conduct of the war, is considering bringing down the Netanyahu government.

The party’s deliberations came after the Security Cabinet in the early hours of Thursday, Aug. 9, approved by a “decisive majority” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to expand military operations by taking control of Gaza City.

“The decision on Thursday was, in the party’s view, a severe mistake and a retreat from the government’s determination to truly achieve victory and defeat Hamas,” one source said.

“If this decision is not changed, we are headed toward dissolving the government and going to elections.”