Netanyahu and Top Aides Think Israel Must Beat Hamas on the Battlefield

As Israel gears up for renewed fighting, most opinion polls show the public wants a cease-fire to continue

- Dov Lieber & Anat Peled

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new national-security team are planning a major ground offensive in Gaza in the belief that capturing and holding swaths of territory will allow them to finally defeat Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, according to people familiar with the government's thinking.

On Sunday, Israel sent infantry into the northern part of the Gaza Strip and areas around Rafah in the south. Israel has also deployed troops in the so-called Netzarim corridor, which bisects the Palestinian enclave, returning to areas it had withdrawn from as part of a cease-fire deal. Israel also has targeted a series of Hamas's Gaza-based political leaders in recent days.

The moves represent the start of a new battle plan. Netanyahu and a hawkish group of top aides appointed in recent months argue that Hamas must be beaten on the battlefield by force of arms before any political solution to the fate of Gaza can be advanced.

Previously, defense officials had taken the view that Hamas could be degraded militarily, but that it would be necessary to establish a new governing authority in Gaza to really end Hamas's influence.

Netanyahu and his new team, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and top general Eyal Zamir, believe that last year's military defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Trump administration's willingness to back a renewed offensive against Hamas give them more latitude to fight.

Katz, in a policy shift announced last week, said Israel would gradually seize territory from Gaza as long as Hamas holds on to hostages.

"Once you win, things will start to sort themselves out," said Amir Avivi, a former Israeli military commander.

The new approach is likely to be controversial among Israelis. Most polls show a large majority of Israelis, including a majority of right-wing voters, want the fighting to stop as part of a deal that brings home the remaining hostages in Gaza.