Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israeli military would disarm Hamas and “demilitarize” Gaza if foreign troops don’t.
Netanyahu told the graduating class of Israeli military cadets that Israel has “more work” to do in Gaza. “At the end of the day, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized,” he said. “If foreign troops do it, great. If they don’t do it, we will.”
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have made clear that they’re eager to restart Israel’s full-blown genocidal military campaign in the Gaza Strip, and Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire deal by launching attacks in Gaza, which have killed over 200 Palestinians since the truce began.
The Israeli leader’s comments come as the US is involved in negotiations for an international force to enter Gaza. The idea is for foreign troops to take the place of IDF soldiers inside Gaza.
Israel has strongly objected to the idea of a Turkish presence in Gaza, but according to a report from Axios, the US is pushing for Turkey to be involved. The report said Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Indonesia have shown a willingness to send troops, but there are concerns about the possibility of clashing with Hamas. The US plan also involves establishing a Palestinian police force trained and vetted by the US, Egypt, and Jordan.
Hamas has agreed to give up governance in Gaza to an independent Palestinian committee, but the group’s public position on disarmament is that it’s not willing to give up its weapons until it can be replaced by the armed forces of a Palestinian state. While Netanyahu is vowing to “disarm” Hamas, he has failed to defeat the group despite Israel’s destruction of Gaza and slaughter of at least 68,000 Palestinians.
Israel is also looking to stoke conflict between Palestinians as it’s backing at least four anti-Hamas militias that are operating under the watch of the IDF in Israeli-occupied Gaza. The main group Israel is supporting is a gang led by Yasser Abu Shabab, who admitted to looting aid trucks in 2024. Some members of his group, which is also based in southern Gaza, have ties to ISIS, according to Israeli media.
