Ashkelon — Israeli leaders are now openly debating a full-scale reoccupation of Gaza, as ceasefire talks mediated in Doha collapsed without progress, further fueling what rights organizations and independent observers already label a slow-motion genocide of Palestinians in the besieged enclave.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened his far-right war cabinet this week to evaluate military options that range from continued aerial bombardment to a permanent ground presence. The most extreme proposal, resettling Jewish-only colonies on Gaza soil, was pushed by ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who advocate annexing parts of the strip to “ensure Israeli security.”
The political debate, however, masks a more disturbing reality. After nearly ten months of ceaseless bombardment, more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of “apocalyptic conditions” and looming famine. With aid blocked, hospitals leveled, and clean water inaccessible, the humanitarian situation has devolved into one of the worst catastrophes in modern history one widely condemned as the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Despite growing internal opposition, including from over 600 former Israeli security and intelligence officials who now oppose Netanyahu’s war policy, the Israeli government continues to push for escalatory measures. “We are on the verge of defeat,” the signatories warned in an open letter to US Republicans, including JD Vance and Donald Trump, urging them to pressure Netanyahu toward ending the war.
This comes amid intensifying international isolation. Germany’s lawmakers have floated sanctioning Tel Aviv. France, Canada, and Ireland are reconsidering their diplomatic posture. Even US allies have signaled fatigue with a war that has stalled strategically and morally. Meanwhile, Hamas has made it clear that it will only allow aid convoys to reach hostages if Israel halts airstrikes and opens permanent humanitarian corridors, a condition Tel Aviv refuses to accept.
The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which initially catalyzed the conflict, is now overshadowed by the scale of devastation unleashed by Tel Aviv’s disproportionate response. The Gaza genocide has gone well beyond any claim of “self-defense,” with most global observers seeing it as a deliberate attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestinians through starvation, bombardment, and displacement.
Reports also suggest the Israeli military is preparing for a high-risk hostage retrieval mission, targeting areas where captives are believed to be held underground. This option, analysts warn, risks mass civilian casualties and will further erode Israel’s collapsing international legitimacy, especially after its conduct in Rafah and Khan Younis drew war crime allegations.
Netanyahu’s reluctance to accept a truce, even one supported by US envoys like Steve Witkoff, exposes a government deeply beholden to extremists who seek not peace, but permanent domination of Palestinians. The Biden administration remains complicit, offering rhetorical restraint while continuing arms transfers and vetoing UN resolutions, a stance that has increasingly angered even Western diplomats.
As the Israeli security cabinet deliberates this week, the stakes could not be higher. A decision to reoccupy Gaza would not only formalize apartheid-like conditions but also signal the total collapse of the so-called two-state framework. It would be an unmistakable declaration: Zionism’s final form is not coexistence but conquest.
According to Reuters, the collapse of ceasefire talks in Doha has pushed Netanyahu’s government into this belligerent posture. The US-backed plan, which proposed a 60-day pause in fighting, humanitarian access, and a phased hostage-prisoner exchange, failed largely because Israel refused to commit to a full withdrawal from Gaza. In the wake of that failure, Netanyahu now leans toward a military solution, one that ensures only more death, suffering, and destruction for Palestinians still trapped under siege.
