Netanyahu faces mounting pressure over Israel's postwar plan for Gaza

A dispute has erupted over the future of Israel’s military operations and its postwar strategy for the Gaza Strip, with the country’s top defense chief pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renounce hard-right calls to annex the region.

“The ‘day after Hamas’ will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas’s rule,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday. “I must reiterate: I will not agree to the establishment of Israeli military rule in Gaza. Israel must not establish civilian rule in Gaza.”