Will Israel seek to occupy all of the Gaza Strip?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering ordering the complete reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media. Israel’s security cabinet is due to meet tomorrow and would need to approve any such action.

However, senior officials have warned that the plan would endanger the remaining hostages, risk further international isolation of Israel, and require the IDF to administer a population in which Hamas fighters were still present.

The IDF says it already controls more than 75 percent of Gaza; according to the UN, only 12 percent of the enclave is outside the Israeli militarized zone or areas not affected by IDF evacuation orders. The majority of the population now lives in tent encampments in the southern part of the Strip.

The idea of Israel occupying all of Gaza raises several questions, chief among them:

What about the hostages?

Hamas abducted 251 hostages in the October 7 attack, of whom 202 have since been recovered. Twenty are presumed to be still alive, while twenty-nine are thought to be dead.

Video released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week showed two hostages in a visibly fragile state. The International Red Cross said it was “appalled” by the videos and urged that the “dire situation must come to an end.”

However, negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have been stalled for some time. As a result, President Trump has reportedly given Mr. Netanyahu a green light to launch a more aggressive military operation against Hamas while making plans to significantly increase the US role in providing humanitarian aid in the enclave.

What are the alternatives?

Israel has insisted since October 7, 2023, that Hamas must be disarmed and dismantled and that all the hostages must be returned. They are now considering four options:

1. They could continue negotiations to secure the release of the hostages. Some speculate that reported plans to occupy all of Gaza are in fact a pressure tactic to force Hamas into a new deal. However, the terrorists have said they will not relinquish the hostages apart from guarantees of Hamas’s survival, which Israel sees as tantamount to permitting another Oct. 7 in the future.
2. The IDF could stage hostage rescue operations. However, the hostages are believed to be hidden deep underground in Hamas’s extensive tunnel network. And hostages freed from captivity have said that their captors were under orders to kill them if they thought Israeli troops were approaching.
3. Israel could clear the 75 percent of Gaza it controls and attack Hamas in the remaining 25 percent until submission. However, this will require operations in areas where hostages are currently being held.
4. The IDF could seek to control all of Gaza, including areas heavily fortified by Hamas. However, this increases the possibility of a rise in military casualties and puts the hostages at risk.

What Israel cannot do is continue the present stalemate. The hostages are getting weaker and public sentiment is rising for their return. Dr. Shay Har-Zvi, former acting director of Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, warns: “If nothing is done, it will only get worse for Israel and for the hostages.”

Henry Kissinger famously observed, “The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.”

An option I haven’t seen reported

As you can see, each of these options is fraught with potential disaster. As a result, let’s consider an option I haven’t seen reported by the secular media, but one with abundant biblical precedent.

When Samson was imprisoned in Gaza, he prayed for divine assistance and was then empowered to destroy the temple of their god Dagon and kill many Philistines (Judges 16:23–31). Similarly, when King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lᴏʀᴅ,” God empowered him and he “struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city” (2 Kings 18:3, 8).

We can therefore pray for miraculous intervention by which the terrorists are defeated, the hostages liberated, and the Palestinian and Israeli people freed from Hamas’s despotic threat. God could do this through military means, as with Samson and Hezekiah. Or he could use political and cultural avenues.

For example, the leader of an independent Palestinian group in Gaza recently published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal stating that his movement opposes Hamas and seeks a peaceful future for their people. Top Palestinian officials in the West Bank similarly want to establish their own emirate, join the Abraham Accords, recognize the state of Israel, and secure peace for their people.

Perhaps God will use such leaders in Gaza to overthrow Hamas from within. Perhaps he will intervene miraculously to defeat them without further bloodshed. Perhaps the terrorists will experience a Damascus road-type spiritual awakening, turn to Christ, and repent of their atrocities. Perhaps God will act in yet another way to bring this crisis to a peaceful end.

“He may give us the more largely”

I don’t know how God might answer our prayers for Gaza. What I do know is that if we don’t pray, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

With the human options so limited, perhaps our Lord will redeem this horrible conflict by acting in ways that demonstrate his omnipotent providence. St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) noted,

“God does not delay to hear our prayers because he has no mind to give, but that, by enlarging our desires, he may give us the more largely.”

As a result, the greater our prayers, the greater God’s answers.

Will you pray for great answers from God today?

Quote for the day:

“The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.” —F. B. Meyer

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