Hamas is ready “to take the ‘Hezbollah model’ and let someone else take care of the ruins they left behind in the Gaza Strip,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told ABC News.
He explained that he does not think Hamas is ready to disarm or willingly end the violence in Gaza.
“If they will be ready to disarm,” Sa’ar said in the Tuesday interview, “that would be a huge thing that could change the entire equation.”
However, he said Hamas “wants to continue to be the most powerful military force in the Gaza Strip in order to continue the war against Israel.”
ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman pressed Sa’ar, asking, “And you’re saying this is something Israel will not accept?”
“No, this is totally unacceptable,” Sa’ar responded.
“Because for us, we will not be able to guarantee our security without this disarmament of the Gaza Strip, of Hamas, [and] of Islamic Jihad.”
The interview took place as US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff landed in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday to join Egyptian and Qatari mediators in negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a new hostage-ceasefire deal.
Pressure on Hamas
According to a recent article from The Jerusalem Post, Israel has drafted a step-by-step plan to escalate pressure on Hamas if the terrorist group does not release the remaining hostages, Israeli security analysts told The Wall Street Journal.
The plan includes cutting off essential supplies, launching airstrikes, forcing Gazans who have returned to the north to evacuate again, and ultimately reentering Gaza if a deal is not reached.
Israeli security analysts further explained to the WSJ that if economic and infrastructure pressures fail, Israel may escalate to targeted airstrikes and special forces raids against Hamas leadership and military positions, the Post reported.
Ultimately, Israeli forces may launch a full-scale military operation, deploying more troops than in previous conflicts to hold ground and effectively dismantle Hamas’s remaining military infrastructure.
The Post added that sources familiar with the plan described this as the most extensive operation to date.