Israel’s Gaza City Operation: A Complex Web of Motives and Historical Echoes

On August 7, 2025, Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to capture Gaza City, issuing 60,000 reserve orders and extending 20,000 existing ones, signaling a major escalation in the ongoing conflict. The stated objective is to “crush Hamas,” the Islamist militant group that has controlled Gaza for nearly two decades. However, a closer look reveals a tangled mix of political posturing, territorial ambitions, and historical grievances, raising questions about Israel’s true intentions and the human cost of its actions.

Israel’s leadership, particularly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has publicly framed the operation as a necessary step to eliminate Hamas, free hostages, and ensure Gaza poses no future threat. Yet, statements from far-right cabinet members like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir tell a different story.

Smotrich has openly advocated for expanding Israeli control over Gaza and the West Bank, describing plans for “sterile zones” that exclude Palestinians from certain areas. Ben-Gvir has echoed similar sentiments, pushing for policies that critics argue amount to ethnic cleansing.

These remarks align with a broader narrative among Israel’s right-wing coalition, which has long viewed Gaza’s land and resources—such as its offshore gas fields—as strategic assets to be claimed. This duality in rhetoric—crushing Hamas versus annexing territory—suggests Israel may be leveraging the fight against Hamas to pursue a larger agenda of displacement and control, switching narratives to suit diplomatic or domestic audiences.

The operation’s scale, involving the forced displacement of 800,000 to 1 million Palestinian civilians to camps in central Gaza, evokes memories of the Nakba, the 1948 displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during Israel’s founding. Critics, including the UN and human rights groups, warn that this could be a “second Nakba,” with Saudi Arabia condemning Israel’s actions as “ethnic cleansing.”

The plan to encircle Gaza City, move civilians south, and demolish infrastructure block by block mirrors tactics used in 1948, fueling accusations that Israel’s goal is not just Hamas’s defeat but the permanent removal of Palestinians from the area. The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, has called for an immediate halt, citing risks of “massive forced displacement” and “atrocity crimes.”

Israel’s military precision, demonstrated in sophisticated operations like the recent Hezbollah pager attack in Lebanon, contrasts sharply with its approach in Gaza. While capable of targeted strikes, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been criticized for indiscriminate attacks, with the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reporting over 61,599 Palestinian deaths since October 2023, many of them civilians.

The use of remote-controlled explosive vehicles and widespread airstrikes suggests a deliberate choice to prioritize destruction over precision, potentially to clear land for future Israeli control. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have accused Israel of committing genocide through such tactics, pointing to the systematic destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and religious sites.

Adding complexity, Israel’s actions are often justified through a religious lens, despite 40-70% of its Jewish population identifying as secular. The government frequently invokes biblical claims to the land, with figures like Smotrich, a settler activist, framing the conflict as a divine mandate. This religious rhetoric resonates with coalition partners like the Religious Zionism party but alienates secular Israelis and international allies. It also masks the strategic pursuit of Gaza’s resources and geopolitical dominance, allowing Israel to rally domestic support while deflecting criticism abroad.

The futility of targeting Hamas is evident in its resilience despite years of Israeli campaigns. Hamas’s decentralized structure and popular support—polls show 52% of Gazans approved of the October 7, 2023, attack—make its eradication unlikely without catastrophic civilian losses. Meanwhile, the operation risks further isolating Israel, with Germany halting arms deliveries and 27 nations warning of an “unimaginable” humanitarian crisis.

As Israel moves forward, the Gaza City operation appears less about defeating Hamas and more about completing a decades-long project of displacement begun in 1948. The interplay of security, territorial ambition, and religious justification reveals a strategy that speaks out of both sides of its mouth—promising peace while pursuing conquest. The cost, as always, falls heaviest on Gaza’s civilians, trapped in a cycle of violence with no end in sight.