IDF Chief Warns Gaza Conquest Plan Would Result In Military Rule

During a tense cabinet session last night on the future of the war in Gaza, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir cautioned Monday that a decision to seize Gaza City would inevitably draw Israel into administering the Strip directly, Ynet reported.

“You are heading to a military government,” Zamir told ministers. “Your plan is leading us there. Understand the implications.”

He went on to explain, “Your decision to conquer Gaza City — and afterwards this will lead to the conquest of the refugee camps in central Gaza — and then it will be a military government, because there will be no other body that could take responsibility for the population.”

Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs pushed back, insisting that the government had already resolved there would be no military administration in Gaza.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir argued, “Instead of a military government, encourage voluntary emigration.”

Zamir reiterated his warning: “Understand the implications.” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich replied, “We made a decision.”

The discussion then shifted when Ben Gvir called for a vote on a partial hostage deal, hoping to demonstrate cabinet opposition to the idea. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declined, stating there was no such deal currently available, effectively dismissing the phased proposal that international mediators had outlined and Hamas claimed to have accepted earlier this month.

Israel has maintained that it will only consider a full agreement requiring Hamas to disarm completely and release all hostages.