Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel's military campaign in Gaza will intensify and that troops will remain in any territory they capture, marking a departure from previous operations that saw forces enter and withdraw repeatedly.
Speaking in a public video statement, Netanyahu said the decision followed a late-night meeting of the security cabinet and was made at the recommendation of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
“We decided on intensified action in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. “That was the chief of staff’s recommendation—to move, as he said, toward the defeat of Hamas. He believes this will also help us rescue the hostages. I agree with him. We are not letting up on this effort and will not give up on anyone.”
He added that the military would not follow past patterns of temporary incursions but would instead station reserve forces in areas seized during the fighting. “There will be movement of the population to protect them,” he said.
In the same video, Netanyahu defended his government’s decision not to form a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading up to the Oct. 7 assault. Critics have called for an independent investigation, but Netanyahu argued it would be inappropriate to launch one during active combat.
“We’re on the eve of an intensified entry into Gaza. This is a recommendation from the army’s general staff—not from me,” he said. “If we decide on a state commission of inquiry, we’ll have to tell soldiers tomorrow to go and hire lawyers. They should be equipped with weapons and ammunition and all the forces needed to defeat Hamas—not with lawyers.”
Netanyahu added that he would oppose the formation of a state inquiry commission even after the war, if it were to be led by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, as has been proposed. He said any investigation must be broadly accepted by the public and reflect diverse political views.
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“There needs to be a commission that examines decisions at the political level, from the prime minister down, including past prime ministers and the military decisions taken on that day,” he said. “We agreed in the government that we would bring a recommendation within 90 days.”
Netanyahu’s public statement was his latest in a series of video updates, as he continues to avoid press conferences or interviews that include questions from journalists.