Netanyahu’s plan to ‘capture’ Gaza: ‘This is not about getting the hostages out'
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The future of Gaza looks increasingly uncertain as Israel approves plans to take total control of the region, with Hamas saying there is no longer any point continuing peace talks.
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Read time: 4 minutes
In brief…
- Israel plans to take indefinite control of Gaza, with Netanyahu calling it a "forceful operation" to end Hamas rule and rescue hostages, leading Hamas to abandon peace talks.
- Since 2 March, Israel has blocked aid to Gaza, creating what aid agencies warn is an imminent starvation crisis.
- Polls show 60-70% of Israelis would prefer prioritising hostage recovery and ending the war, with critics suggesting Netanyahu's plan is motivated by political survival rather than resolving the conflict.
What’s the story?
The future of Gaza, and the prospect of lasting peace with Israel, has rarely seemed less certain than it does at this moment.
A senior Hamas official has said the group sees "no point" in continuing ceasefire or hostage release talks after Israel approved plans to seize total – and indefinite – control of the Palestinian territory.
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has been blocking aid entering Gaza, which Hamas has described as a "starvation war", with aid agencies issuing warnings of imminent mass starvation facing people in the region.
Israel has denied there is an aid shortage.
It is believed 24 Israeli hostages taken during the 7 October Hamas attack in 2023 are still alive in Gaza. Around 1,200 Israeli people were killed that day, and 251 hostages taken.
Israel's military response has killed at least 50,000 people in Gaza in the months since.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Israel's plans as a "forceful operation" and said the 2.1 million people living in Gaza will be moved "to protect it".
The operation, Netanyahu has said, is intended to end the rule of Hamas and rescue remaining Israeli hostages.
What’s the story?
The future of Gaza, and the prospect of lasting peace with Israel, has rarely seemed less certain than it does at this moment.
A senior Hamas official has said the group sees "no point" in continuing ceasefire or hostage release talks after Israel approved plans to seize total – and indefinite – control of the Palestinian territory.
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has been blocking aid entering Gaza, which Hamas has described as a "starvation war", with aid agencies issuing warnings of imminent mass starvation facing people in the region.
Israel has denied there is an aid shortage.
It is believed 24 Israeli hostages taken during the 7 October Hamas attack in 2023 are still alive in Gaza. Around 1,200 Israeli people were killed that day, and 251 hostages taken.
Israel's military response has killed at least 50,000 people in Gaza in the months since.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Israel's plans as a "forceful operation" and said the 2.1 million people living in Gaza will be moved "to protect it".
The operation, Netanyahu has said, is intended to end the rule of Hamas and rescue remaining Israeli hostages.
Do Israelis support Netanyahu’s plans?
Prime Minister Netanyahu may be pushing on with his plan for Gaza, but recent polling shows that there is a disconnect between the Israeli government's policies and public sentiment in Israel.
According to Tel Aviv-based author, public opinion researcher and pollster Dahlia Scheindlin, "the majority believe he is doing this for the wrong reasons, and that is to protect his political situation."
This fundamental lack of trust “characterises a majority of Israelis for whichever decision he is making,” she says.
“Most surveys show between 60-70% of Israelis would prefer to prioritise getting the hostages back, including when that means ending the war and withdrawing Israeli forces from Gaza.
“So by implication, they don't support expanding the war - certainly not annexing Gaza.”
Since Israel’s military action against Gaza there has been a lot of public pressure on Netanyahu’s government, including demonstrations on the street and talk about the possibility that reservist soldiers won’t turn up for duty when called upon.
However, not everyone is in opposition, with 35-45% of Israelis “utterly comfortable” with what Netanyahu is doing, Scheindlin explains.
“Ultimately, the government has its core of support.”
It’s then hard to see how Israelis, even if the majority don’t approve of the planned action, can be a driving force to stop the government from moving ahead with its plans.
The response rate to reservists' draft orders have “declined to 75% from 100% after October 7th,” Scheindlin says.
It’s a significant decline, but Scheindlin is highly sceptical that it’s enough to provoke change.
“There are enough people who are very, very highly motivated and still see this as a war of survival, as an existential war, as a war of absolute necessity, a war of defense, that they will continue coming.”
The majority of Israelis want to see hostages released and an end to the war. 70-73% say they would have supported a hostage release deal that involved a full cessation of the war and withdrawal of forces from Gaza, a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute shows.
“These findings have been broadly affirmed in every survey since the hostage deal went into effect in mid January.”
“What can the Israeli public do about it? Surveys don't determine public policy or topple governments. Demonstrations, even mass demonstrations, we've had demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of people, do not topple governments.”
What’s The News Agents’ take?
“If you are a Palestinian, scrabbling around for food, what was already a dire situation seems even bleaker now,” Jon Sopel says.
There has been a blockade in humanitarian aid getting through to Gaza since 2 March, after the collapse of a two month ceasefire, with Israel saying it was putting pressure on Hamas to release hostages.
Lewis Goodall says it’s only thanks to NGO food programs that “Gazans haven't starved already - or got very close to it.”
“The largely UN-led humanitarian NGO food programs have been using the food which got in before the blockade started, and they have warned in the last couple of days that the foodthey do have will run out within the next two weeks.”
President Trump has said the US will help to provide food to people in Gaza, but warned that “people are making it very, very bad.”
“He's referring to Hamas, predominantly,” Jon explains. “Because they're stealing all the food and storing it for their fighters - something that Hamas absolutely denies.”
Far from creating an end to the devastating war, the new plan drawn up by Israel will “risk the lives and livelihood of just about everybody living in Gaza,” Emily Maitlis says.
“How on earth can you justify starving a population to death?” She asks.
But Jon thinks the plan drawn up by Netanyahu is about nothing more than his “political survival”, as the Israeli PM is currently on trial for three corruption charges.
“‘How long can I stay in the saddle if I create a situation of near permanent war? That is my best way of staying in control’,” Jon suspects is his thought process.
“There are an awful lot of people who are saying, ‘this is not about getting the hostages out. This actually will endanger those few remaining poor souls who were taken on October 7th’”.
Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.
