On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly declared the plans by the Zionist regime for the annexation of the Gaza Strip. Speaking from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu announced what he called “the full occupation” of Gaza.

The plan, described as a “final decision” by Jerusalem, is a significant escalation of the genocidal war on Palestinians, bringing Israel to new heights of barbaric occupation, forced displacement and conquest of Gaza. The implications of these measures are both catastrophic for the people of Gaza and also reveal a political crisis within Israel that threatens to plunge the entire Middle East into war.

Netanyahu’s statement came after a cabinet session closed to journalists but described in detail by Israeli media. Flanked by Defense Minister Israel Katz and a silent, rigid-faced Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, Netanyahu spoke directly to the Israeli public, the international press, and—to leave no ambiguity—to Palestinians themselves.

The fascistic prime minister said:

The government of Israel has made the decision for the full occupation of Gaza. We are committed to freeing Gaza from the tyranny of these terrorists. Many Gazans come to us, and they say, “Help us be free. Help us be free of Hamas.” And that’s what we will do.

Netanyahu added a pointed message to his top military official. “Lieutenant General Zamir, if this does not suit you, then you should resign.” Meanwhile, according to CNN, Israel’s Ynet quoted senior government officials close to Netanyahu as saying, “The die is cast—we’re going for full conquest. If the Chief of Staff doesn’t agree—he should resign.”

The conflict among the political-military elite exposes a growing political crisis within Israel. While Netanyahu and his cabinet have long called for “liberating Gaza,” opposition is mounting from soldiers and even senior General Staff, who see little chance that the conquest of Gaza can defeat deeply entrenched Palestinian resistance and will only increase Israel’s growing isolation and hatred of it by masses of people internationally.

The plan for what is now officially being called the “full occupation” of Gaza have been in development for months if not years. The new campaign envisions tens of thousands of Israeli troops sweeping across what remains of the Gaza Strip, overrunning devastated neighborhoods in the north, center and especially the southern governorates, where nearly 2 million people have crowded, jammed into makeshift tents and ruined buildings.

Publicly, the operation is being cynically sold as an act of “liberation,” with Netanyahu repeatedly emphasizing that Gazans wish to “be free of Hamas.” However, the ongoing mass murder and use of starvation as weapons of extermination and terror completely blow up the Israeli narrative.

Scenes from across Gaza—which are being shared daily on social media and circulated around the world—show the Palestinian population to be suffering under continuous bombardment and mass displacement amid the descent into famine and a deliberate campaign of deprivation. Israeli officials have provided no proof of “requests” for increased aerial or ground assault, and the claim has been denounced as grotesque by humanitarian professionals working in Gaza.

The plan includes an overwhelming military occupation, beginning with a storm of artillery and air strikes to destroy any remaining social infrastructure. Troops are set to advance in columns from the north and across the Salah al-Din axis, with special forces targeting bombed-out facilities that Israel claims are harboring resistance cells.

Civilian areas are to be “secured zone by zone,” which, according to Israeli security sources, will impose “temporary control” over aid distribution and media access. In other words, the unfolding mass murder of Palestinians will be combined with censorship and denying journalists and independent monitors access to most of southern and central Gaza.

Testimony from survivors and aid workers, broadcast by Al Jazeera and other outlets, show that no one in Gaza is calling for “liberation” by Israel, but for the bombing to stop and for food, medicine and basic security to be restored.

Chief of Staff Zamir’s reservations about the “complete conquest” of Gaza concern the continued withholding of information about the fate of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Military experts and former generals see Netanyahu’s moves as reckless that will likely doom the remaining Israeli captives.

The official plans for Gaza’s future as a follow up to the latest “final decision” were studiously omitted from Netanyahu’s announcement. Yet as leaked documents, diplomatic cables and Israeli and foreign press reports confirm, the longer term plan for Gaza has long been discussed by the Israeli establishment.

At the center of these discussions is a 32-page document entitled, “Gaza Security and Recovery Program, How Should The Day After Look Like,” created by the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), a network of over 35,000 fascist and far-right reservists, in partnership with the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, an ideological think tank whose influence permeates the present ruling coalition.

The paper, circulated to lawmakers and Western embassies last spring, sets forth a vision of total Israeli military control of Gaza, the establishment of a new puppet entity in its place, and the forced “demilitarization and de-Hamasization” of Palestinian life. It advocates the creation of a new administration that is handpicked and “vetted for security compatibility,” while prohibiting restoration of the Palestinian Authority or any international governance body.

The Jerusalem Center’s co-authors explicitly reject any mention of a Palestinian state, proposing instead a “benign, stable entity” under the “protective auspices” of Israel. Nowhere is any provision made for Palestinian democratic self-determination or return to ancestral homes.

This post-conquest scenario depends fundamentally on the forced removal of Gaza’s population. Current plans—accelerated by Donald Trump’s vision of a riviera on the Mediterranean—envision the forced transfer of up to 2 million Palestinians to narrowly circumscribed zones in the southern area of Rafah, bordering Egypt.

This area is to be transformed into a “humanitarian city,” that is, in reality, a militarized concentration camp patrolled and enclosed by Israeli and Western-funded security forces. As Reuters reported, leaked Israeli blueprints and US-supported proposals openly describe the city as a permanent solution to “the Gaza question,” by creating a modern-day ghetto in which the Palestinian population is held captive, denied the possibility of ever returning to the north or center of the Strip.

The actual living conditions in Rafah and throughout southern Gaza have already begun to resemble those of concentration camps. Aid agencies have repeatedly described the systematic weaponization of food, water and medicine as a means of coercion and population transfer.

At every step, the IDF controls the delivery and distribution of aid, restricting access to critical goods and engaging in active obstruction of international and Palestinian humanitarian work. Several “humanitarian corridors” announced by Israeli authorities have, in practice, become ambush routes, where those seeking food or medical help have repeatedly been shot or shelled.

Since the launch of its campaign in October 2023, the Israeli regime has pursued the permanent annexation of Gaza before the entire world. Now, with its intentions openly declared, the Israeli government employs every means at its disposal to drive the Palestinian people from their land through starvation and mass death.

Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two years since the war began, most of them women and children. The latest figures released by Al Jazeera indicate that in just the past 48 hours, more than 70 Gazans, most seeking food or shelter, were shot or killed by Israeli forces near makeshift aid stations and “safe zones.” Eyewitnesses report scenes of horror as entire families are wiped out by shells and gunfire, sometimes even with television cameras rolling.

According to the latest figures reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 180 people have died from starvation and related malnutrition since the beginning of the conflict nearly two years ago. This toll includes 93 children, who have lost their lives due to hunger, as confirmed by health officials on Monday.

Hospitals continue to record new deaths from malnutrition daily, and officials warn that the numbers are accelerating as humanitarian conditions further deteriorate. Other recent reports corroborate this figure, with humanitarian organizations and international bodies highlighting that the death toll from starvation is climbing rapidly, particularly among young children, as the blockade and ongoing violence severely restrict the entry and distribution of food and medical aid in the Gaza Strip.

International medical organizations state that with basic supply chains obliterated and nearly all arable land destroyed, the number starving to death is accelerating, with many remote areas rendered entirely inaccessible to surviving aid workers.

Netanyahu’s drive for “final conquest” is inseparable from the deepening political crisis with public protests within Israel mounting in strength and anger. The families of the hostages, who initially backed the war, have become some of the most vocal opponents, accusing the government of abandoning the captives.