Watan-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to escalate the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and implement former U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to forcibly displace Palestinian civilians from the enclave.
With full U.S. backing, Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, resulting in more than 164,000 Palestinian casualties, including martyrs and injured—most of them children and women—and over 14,000 missing.
At the beginning of a cabinet session, Netanyahu claimed that “a combination of military and political pressure is the only way to retrieve the hostages—not the empty slogans I hear in the studios,” according to Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper.
Netanyahu Pushes War, Displacement Plan Amid Hostage Crisis
Netanyahu’s remarks were aimed at top Israeli analysts and hostage families who have warned that continued military pressure—i.e., the genocidal war—risks killing Israeli hostages in Gaza. They hold him responsible and accuse him of pursuing personal political goals.
Israel estimates that 59 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, including 24 believed to be alive. Meanwhile, Israeli prisons hold more than 9,500 Palestinians who suffer from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has led to several deaths, according to both Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports.
Netanyahu claimed: “Military pressure is working—it’s crushing Hamas’s capabilities and creating the conditions for our hostages’ release.”
He added: “Last night, the Security Cabinet met and decided to increase pressure and intensify strikes against Hamas to facilitate hostage recovery.”
He went on to say: “I want to address three false claims constantly made against us. The first is that we are not negotiating. False—we are negotiating under fire, which makes it more effective,” according to his claim.
On Saturday night, Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya announced the group had accepted a truce proposal from Egypt and Qatar, expressing hope that Israel would not derail it—though he did not reveal the details.
Netanyahu Reaffirms Gaza Control, Backs Displacement Plan
Netanyahu continued: “The second lie is that we are not discussing the final status of Gaza. Not true—we are ready.”
He claimed that “Hamas will lay down its arms, its leaders will be allowed to leave (Gaza), and we will ensure public security in the Strip.”
He added: “We are also prepared to implement the Trump Plan—the so-called voluntary migration plan. This is our plan, and we are ready to discuss it anytime.”
On March 4, 2025, an emergency Arab summit on Palestine adopted a reconstruction plan for Gaza that explicitly ruled out the displacement of its residents. The plan is estimated to cost $53 billion and would be implemented over five years.
However, both Israel and the U.S. rejected the Arab plan, insisting instead on a version of Trump’s forced displacement plan, which proposes relocating Gazans to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan—an idea both nations rejected, along with other Arab states and international organizations.
Netanyahu added: “The third lie is that we don’t care about the hostages. Not true. My wife and I met with the hostages’ families this week, and ministers meet them regularly.”
On March 1, 2025, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel—brokered by Egypt and Qatar with U.S. support—came to an end. It had begun on January 19, 2025, and was honored by the Palestinian resistance.
However, Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—refused to launch the second phase of negotiations and instead resumed the genocide in Gaza on March 18, bowing to the most extreme wing of his far-right government, according to Israeli media.
Since resuming the genocide, Israel has killed 921 Palestinians and injured 2,054 others, the majority being children and women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry as of Saturday morning.
Israel’s blockade of Gaza has entered its 18th year, and about 1.5 million of its 2.4 million residents are now homeless after their homes were destroyed. The territory has entered early stages of famine due to Israel’s closure of crossings and blocking of humanitarian aid.
Hezbollah
Regarding Hezbollah, Netanyahu said:
“In Lebanon, there is strict enforcement (of the ceasefire) with no concessions.”
He added:
“These are the instructions given by me, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the Cabinet to the Israeli military, and they are being carried out in the best possible way.”
He continued:
“We do not allow any rockets (from Lebanon), and we make no compromises. The Lebanese state is responsible for everything that comes from its territory and must prevent any attacks against Israel.”
On October 8, 2023, Israel launched an assault on Lebanon that escalated into a full-scale war on September 23, 2024, resulting in over 4,000 deaths, 17,000 injuries, and the displacement of around 1.4 million people.
Israel has since failed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon as required by an agreement that called for a full withdrawal by February 18, 2025. Instead, it conducted a partial withdrawal and continues to occupy five strategic hills seized during the latest war.
Since the November 27, 2024 ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel, the latter has committed 1,341 violations, killing at least 113 people and injuring 355 others, according to official Lebanese data.
Houthis in Yemen
On Yemen’s Houthi movement, Netanyahu said:“We greatly appreciate the strong actions of our ally, the United States. They are dealing with them forcefully.”
Days of U.S. airstrikes targeting what Washington calls Houthi sites in Yemen have resulted in dozens of casualties and significant damage to public and private property.
Netanyahu added:“Of course, we are protecting ourselves, as we did recently. But the fact that the U.S. intervened so strongly marks a major shift.”
He concluded:“We always value our alliances. We have an alliance with the world’s strongest superpower, and they support us there and in other arenas unconditionally.”
On Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi movement announced that it had once again successfully targeted Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel with a ballistic missile “in support of the Palestinian people,” according to a televised statement.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched attacks on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea and elsewhere as a show of solidarity with Gaza in the face of Israel’s genocidal war.
The group had paused attacks during the January ceasefire, but resumed strikes on Israel and ships heading there after Israel resumed its assault on Gaza on March 18.
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