Netanyahu vows to escalate Gaza war, implement Trump's displacement plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to intensify the ongoing war in Gaza and move forward with a plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to forcibly displace Palestinians from the besieged territory.

Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu claimed that "a combination of military and political pressure is the only way to recover the hostages, not the empty slogans I hear in TV studios," according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

His remarks were a direct criticism of prominent Israeli analysts and families of the captives, who have warned that Israel's military actions are endangering the hostages and accused him of prioritizing personal political gains over their rescue.

Netanyahu insisted that "military pressure is working,” claiming that “it is crushing Hamas' capabilities and creating conditions for the hostages' release."

“We will implement the Trump Plan, the voluntary migration plan. This is our strategy, and we are ready to discuss it at any time," he added.

On March 4, an emergency Arab summit on Palestine adopted a five-year, $53 billion plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its residents.

Israel and the US rejected the initiative, instead backing Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan, both of which have strongly opposed the idea, along with other Arab states and international organizations.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing over 920 people, injuring more than 2,000 others, and shattering the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

More than 50,200 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 114,000 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.