Gaza Herald- A newspaper report revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented a plan to annex parts of the Gaza Strip to appease far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich. The report noted that the plan has received approval from the U.S. administration and appears to be an attempt by Netanyahu to keep Smotrich within the government coalition.
The areas in question are those classified by Israel as “security zones,” including the buffer zone in northern Gaza, which extends approximately one kilometer deep along the border, as well as key axes within the strip, such as Netzarim, Morag, and the Philadelphi (Salah al-Din) corridor. The plan also includes northern Gaza areas close to Sderot and Ashkelon, with a gradual process ultimately aiming to annex the entire strip.
Internal Political Pressure
This proposal comes amid mounting internal political pressure on Netanyahu, particularly from Smotrich, who had threatened to resign from the government after the Prime Minister announced the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
However, Smotrich backtracked on his resignation threat earlier on Monday.
Netanyahu had invited both Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to attend a cabinet meeting on Monday evening, after previously excluding them from the decision to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
These developments follow several measures announced by Israel over the past two days, including daily pauses in fighting in three areas of Gaza for what it described as “humanitarian” purposes, new safe corridors for aid convoys, and airdrop operations — steps taken after ceasefire negotiations collapsed on Friday, according to Reuters.
