Netanyahu believes occupying Gaza is the only way to save the hostages – but it will also start bloodiest phase of the war yet, experts warn

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to call for the full military occupation of the Gaza Strip to fight Hamas and free the hostages, according to multiple reports – but it could kick off the bloodiest phase of the war yet for the Jewish state.

Netanyahu has long maintained that military might is the best way to finish off Hamas and rescue the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza, and the proposal calls for deploying Israel Defense Forces troops on the ground across the entire Palestinian territory, according to Israeli media.

“This puts the IDF under new risks, with the soldiers having to deal with regular ambushes, improvised explosions and sniper fire from an insurgency,” Colin Clarke, a counter-terrorism expert at the New York-based Soufan Group, told The Post. “This operation could also lay the groundwork for the next version of Hamas.”

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The Israeli government has confirmed about 450 deaths of IDF soldiers in 18 months of the Gaza ground war.

Israel already occupies about 75% of the Strip, with Gaza’s nearly two million people huddled in the crowded pockets along the western shore.

Any full-scale occupation of Gaza, would likely see troops go into Deir al-Balah, which currently stands as the only major city that has yet to see major ground operations.

The families of the 20 living hostages have said it’s likely their loved ones are being held there — and they worry any military action would put them in grave danger.

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Hamas has reportedly ordered its terrorists to execute their captives if Israeli soldiers are spotted nearby.

Reports began emerging on Monday evening that Netanyahu was ready to greenlight the full occupation of Gaza, with one senior official telling Israeli outlets that “the die has been cast.”

The move to occupy Gaza came after Hamas published a pair of videos last week showing off the emaciated bodies of two Israeli hostages, with one digging his own grave and the other weeping as he begged for food and water.

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Christopher O’Leary, a former senior FBI official who led many hostage recovery teams, said that while Hamas likely published the propaganda videos in hopes of pressuring Netanyahu to re-engage in the cease-fire talks, they likely had the opposite effect.

“It showed off the brutality of Hamas to the world and gave Netanyahu the justification he needed to launch a full occupation of Gaza,” O’Leary said.

The logistics of occupying Gaza, however, are being questioned by at least 19 former Israeli military, intelligence and security chiefs, who publicly warned of unnecessary bloodshed earlier this week.

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Mona Yacoubian, the director and senior adviser of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the plan would put too much strain on the IDF, which likely doesn’t “have the bandwidth or ability to maintain the occupation.” 

“We’ve already seen soldiers suffer from fatigue, death, PTSD, and suicide through the course of the war,” she said. “Israel also has to contend with its other conflicts in Syria, Lebanon, against the Houthis in Yemen and, of course, Iran.”

Yacoubian, Clarke, and O’Leary also warned that an occupation would see insurgency rise in Gaza and more guerilla attacks on the soldiers stationed in the enclave.

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“If occupation becomes the norm, in a place with widespread destruction and hunger, we’ll see insurgents rise up and strike back,” said O’Leary, who has also served on the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI.

“It also risks Hamas regaining popular support and legitimacy from the people to defend them from the occupation force,” he added.

Yacoubian warned that the IDF won’t just have Hamas to contend with, as armed gangs from other factions would likely also rise to power to fight Israel.

“This could birth groups more radical than Hamas,” she said. “This is a recipe for Israel to become embroiled in a forever war in Gaza.”

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Critics have claimed that Netanyahu is pushing for a full occupation out of necessity to appease members of his right-wing coalition to keep his government from dissolving.

Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have demanded Israel take Gaza and prioritize the destruction of Hamas over diplomatic means to rescue the hostages.

Yoram Cohen, a former director of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, ultimately accused the prime minister on Sunday of echoing his cabinet member’s “fantasy” of eradicating Hamas.

Clarke said that there is no clear path to fully eliminate Hamas, as evident by Israel’s claim earlier this year that it killed 70% of the terror group’s armed forces, only for the militants to repeatedly rebuild their numbers.

Clarke warned that without stated logistical goals that go beyond “the elimination of Hamas,” Israel could find itself marred in a years-long occupation effort that fails to complete its mission, like what happened in southern Lebanon for 18 years back in 1982.

“I’m not saying Israel will be stuck in Gaza for the next 18 years, but they might be,” he said.