Israeli official slams Israel’s Gaza strategy, warns government has “no right” to lead without full conquest of the Strip.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the Israeli military is not fighting hard enough in Gaza, adding that the current coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “no right” to continue governing if it does not intend to “conquer” the enclave.
“I said unequivocally that we would return to fighting in a completely different way: aiming to subdue, to defeat, to destroy Hamas, to conquer the Gaza Strip and impose military rule on it, to take territory and signal internally and externally that anyone who messes with us is demolished,” Smotrich said in a Monday night interview with Channel 14 News.
“But unfortunately, this isn’t what is happening,” he emphasized. “I think it’s time to charge at Gaza. If that doesn’t happen, this government has no justification for its existence.”