• Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is reportedly advancing a U.S.-approved plan to annex portions of Gaza. The proposal, designed to retain far-right support, signals a historic policy shift with sweeping implications for Palestinian sovereignty, regional stability, and U.S. foreign credibility.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (TDR) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly preparing to present a U.S.-backed proposal to annex parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Haaretz. The plan, aimed at placating far-right coalition partners, could mark the most radical territorial development since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

Annexation as a Political Bargain

The policy shift reportedly stems from Netanyahu’s effort to appease Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who threatened to leave the coalition over recent moves to expand humanitarian aid to Gaza amidst rising international scrutiny over starvation deaths caused by Israel’s ongoing siege.

To forestall a rupture in his governing bloc, Netanyahu is now poised to propose a partial annexation of Gaza—beginning with the buffer zone along the Israeli border and portions of northern Gaza adjacent to Sderot and Ashkelon.

“We will occupy Gaza and make it an inseparable part of Israel,” Smotrich declared at a recent annexation conference in the Knesset, titled “The Gaza Riviera – From Vision to Reality.”

The event highlighted a coordinated strategy between Israeli hardliners and the Trump administration, which reportedly approved the annexation blueprint, per Haaretz. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer presented the proposal to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Netanyahu told ministers that the plan carries the blessing of the White House.

A Conditional Ceasefire and Calculated Delay

Under the terms outlined, Israel will offer Hamas a brief window to agree to a ceasefire. The terms of this offer remain undefined. While Hamas has reportedly signaled willingness to release all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, Israel has only entertained a temporary halt to hostilities.

If Hamas rejects the offer, Netanyahu’s cabinet is expected to approve the annexation plan, positioning the move as a security imperative rather than an expansionist ambition.

“Smotrich told Netanyahu he would judge by actions,” sources told Haaretz, “and that if the annexation plan moves forward, he would remain in the government for the time being.”

American Alignment and the Trump Doctrine

The move follows last week’s breakdown in ceasefire talks and echoes recent comments by President Trump, who hinted Israel should “finish the job” in Gaza and “make a decision.” While the statements lacked specifics, officials within the administration have privately indicated support for a decisive escalation.

At the annexation conference, Smotrich boasted that the U.S. president had given Israel the “green light to turn Gaza into a resort town”—a euphemism for full-scale annexation and the removal of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

“A proposed plan to relocate Gazans to other countries will serve as a means of facilitating the settlement of the strip,” Smotrich stated, suggesting that northern Gaza would be the first target of Israeli civilian resettlement.

Netanyahu’s Endgame

Netanyahu, who has long sought to implement components of the “Trump plan,” reportedly told a Knesset committee in May that the demolition of homes in Gaza was intended to make resettlement inevitable. His remarks drew sharp condemnation from human rights observers, though domestic backlash remained minimal.

“The condition for ending this war,” Netanyahu said in May, “is enacting the Trump plan.”

This proposal, if enacted, would constitute a de facto termination of the two-state framework and an unprecedented expansion of Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory—raising complex legal, humanitarian, and geopolitical questions.

Is this the end of Gaza as the world knows it—or the beginning of a broader unraveling of postwar order in the Middle East?

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