U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed Israel to “finish it” in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting with his security cabinet on Sunday night.
Trump also asked Netanyahu to reject partial hostage deals with Hamas.
Netanyahu told ministers that pausing now for a limited deal would harm Israel’s push to defeat Hamas and could waste the short window of international support.
Highlights
- Trump has urged Israel to launch a full-scale Gaza offensive, rejecting any partial hostage deals with Hamas to ensure a decisive victory.
- The International Association of Genocide Scholars labeled Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, urging an immediate halt to war crimes.
- A leaked plan revealed the development of the 'Gaza Riviera' as a string of high-tech megacities.
- Trump’s post-war Gaza vision includes US ownership and real estate development.
Trump has instructed Israel to ‘finish it’ in Gaza and reject a partial hostage deal with Hamas
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
“Forget the partial deals. Go in with full force. Finish it,” Netanyahu quoted Trump as saying.
Several ministers later told The Jerusalem Post they believe Netanyahu is fully opposed to a partial agreement. “He will not agree to a partial deal,” one said.
The discussion centered on Israel’s plan to capture Gaza City, which military leaders presented in detail. Despite growing international calls for a ceasefire, Netanyahu made it clear he intends to continue with a full military push.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned ministers that Israel was heading toward “military rule” in Gaza.
“You are heading toward military rule. Understand the implications,” he said.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the warning, saying voluntary emigration of Palestinians could replace direct military control.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insisted the government had already decided to press ahead.
During the six-hour session, Netanyahu also dismissed Ben-Gvir’s request to hold a vote confirming Israel’s rejection of a partial Gaza hostage deal.
“That’s irrelevant,” Netanyahu said. “We are only going for a full deal. We need to defeat Hamas.”
Most ministers backed Netanyahu’s stance, but not all. Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar argued about the negative international perception towards Israel and increased calls from the UN for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
“I hear your positions, but ultimately, I decide, and you must fall in line,” Netanyahu told the ministers, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu told ministers in disagreement with him to ‘fall in line’
Image credits: Ali Jadallah/Getty Images
By the end of the meeting, ministers from across the political spectrum said they were convinced Netanyahu would not support a limited arrangement.
“Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have fully internalized the principles and arguments against a partial deal, and have become the most effective advocates for the approach of ‘decisive victory in Gaza, without stopping for a partial deal,’” one minister told the publication.
The meeting ended around 1:45 a.m. Monday. Notably, Nitzan Alon, head of the IDF’s Hostages Directorate, was not invited. No discussions about active hostage negotiations took place.
The Israeli debate comes as Trump has hardened his tone on Gaza. Only weeks ago, he predicted a ceasefire was within reach. But after withdrawing U.S. negotiators from talks, he’s now urging Israel to escalate.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
“They’re gonna have to fight and they’re gonna have to clean it up. You’re gonna have to get rid of ’em [Hamas],” Trump said in July.
Trump’s about-turn reflects frustration with what Washington sees as Hamas’ unwillingness to compromise. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, has begun exploring “alternative options” to secure hostage releases.
“I think they want to die, and it’s very, very bad,” Trump said about Hamas in July. “It got to be to a point where you’re gonna have to finish the job.”
Egypt and Qatar have insisted negotiations are not over and pledged to continue efforts for a ceasefire.
Hamas has accepted the latest ceasefire and hostage deal proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which outlines a 60-day ceasefire with the release of 10 live hostages, 18 deceased hostages, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Trump has hardened his tone on Gaza
Image credits: Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Getty Images
Israel has not responded to the proposal yet, and its operation in Gaza faces mounting criticism, even from Israelis.
The proposal was introduced last month, after more than 200,000 Israelis protested on the streets across the country, asking Netanyahu not to launch a new offensive and instead sign a deal.
It was the biggest protest since the beginning of the war.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars has also stepped in, declaring Israel’s actions in Palestine a genocide on Monday.
The group, the largest professional organization of scholars studying genocide, said Israel’s military campaign meets the legal definition of the crime. They called for Israel to immediately cease all acts that constitute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The resolution begins with deeming Hamas’ attack as one that “constitutes international crimes.”
Israel rejected the accusation, calling it “an embarrassment to the legal profession.”
Last week, Trump discussed a post-war plan for Gaza with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Israeli official Ron Dermer, according to Axios.
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
Dermer presented Israel’s operational plan for occupying Gaza City but told Trump that Israel does not want to remain in Gaza permanently, and is looking for an alternative to Hamas that can take over in Gaza.
Blair and Kushner pitched ideas for Gaza’s reconstruction and got Trump’s blessing to shape the plan.
This is not the first time Trump has spoken about the plans for the U.S. to redevelop Gaza. Back in February, he said he found Gaza to be a “big real estate site.”
“I think that it’s a big mistake to allow people — the Palestinians, or the people living in Gaza — to go back yet another time, and we don’t want Hamas going back,” he told reporters on Air Force One while on his way to the Super Bowl in February.
“And think of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it, and we’ll slowly — very slowly, we’re in no rush — develop it. We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East soon.”
Then on Sunday, The Washington Post published a leaked prospectus of a plan to develop the “Gaza Riviera” as a string of high-tech megacities.
A leaked prospectus shows plans to develop the ‘Gaza Riviera’
Image credits: The Guardian
It was reportedly developed by the same team of Israelis that created the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with financial planning contributed by Boston Consulting Group.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has already been under human rights scrutiny after hundreds were killed at its aid sites.
The plan involved the forced displacement of Gaza’s population of 2 million people while putting the nation under U.S. trusteeship for at least a decade.
HA Hellyer, a senior associate at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Guardian this plan was “insane.”
Image credits: The Guardian
“The notion that this would be about ‘voluntary departure’ when Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to be shot or starved,” Hellyer said.
The White House has not commented on this plan.
Trump has been fixated on winning the Nobel Peace Prize, which may influence his approach to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, pushing him to focus on initiatives that signal progress towards a resolution.
Despite at least three of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members openly criticizing him, Trump continues to insist he deserves the honor, even boasting of having “ended” conflicts he played little or no role in resolving, such as between India and Pakistan.
Trump has been fixated on winning the Nobel Peace Prize
Image credits: The White House/Flickr
Meanwhile, European leaders are signaling a tougher stance against Israel, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer describing its escalation as “indefensible.”
French President Emmanuel Macron announced France will push for recognition of a Palestinian state in September during the United Nations General Assembly.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this move “a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”
At least 63,459 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.