Lapid warns of the consequences of reoccupying Gaza, calling it a "strategic mistake."

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid warned on Monday against reoccupying the Gaza Strip, considering the army's years of immersion in what he called the "Gaza quagmire" a "strategic mistake."

"The Israeli occupation army has been carrying out operations in Gaza for two days, especially in the Khan Yunis area," Lapid said at a press conference. "But the Israeli government is not answering one question: What is the strategy?"

He added, "We all support the elimination of Hamas, but it will not disappear unless an alternative to its rule is presented. What is the Israeli government's plan? Who will replace Hamas and rule Gaza?"

He continued: "If our soldiers are going to be killed and wounded in Gaza every day for three, four, or five years, the government must stop hiding and say so loudly."

"If the tax money we pay now is going to fund the education of Gaza's children and the health system in Gaza for three, four, or five years, the government must stop hiding and say so out loud," Lapid added, referring to plans to occupy the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli opposition leader warned of the consequences of reoccupying the Gaza Strip.

"Causing the Israeli army to be bogged down in the Gaza quagmire for years is a strategic mistake, an economic disaster, and a political tragedy," he said.

On Monday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee announced via Twitter that the army had intensified its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, launching a large-scale ground operation across the northern and southern Gaza Strip as part of Operation Gideon.

In early May, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved the "Gideon Armoured Vehicles" operation plan, and the government subsequently began preparations for it by calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

The name of the operation carries religious, historical, and military connotations. Israel named one of its bloody operations during the 1948 Nakba "Gideon," which aimed to occupy the Beit Shean area and displace Palestinians from it.

The naming of the expansion of the genocide in Gaza as "Gideon's Wagons" indicates the nature of the occupation intended to be implemented in the Strip.

According to the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority, this operation is likely to continue for months.

It includes "the complete evacuation of all Gaza residents from combat zones, including northern Gaza, to areas in the southern Gaza Strip," and the army will "remain" in any area it "occupies," according to the commission.

Lapid, in turn, called for placing the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration.

He said, "I have presented a completely different plan. Egypt should be the one to govern Gaza in the coming years, and Israel should make a coordinated effort with the Americans to transfer Gaza to Egyptian control over the next 15 years."

Lapid said that "Egypt knows how to manage Gaza."

He added, "I've done it before. It's not the perfect solution, but it's the best of all the solutions on the table. And the Americans know this, too."

He pointed out that Israel "needs to define a strategy for withdrawing from Gaza as soon as possible, and to sit on the periphery (of Gaza) so that the Israeli army can separate Gaza from the surrounding settlements, and continue the fight against Hamas in what is called 'mowing the lawn', that is, the ongoing fight against terrorism, and transfer Gaza to Egyptian control as quickly as possible," as he put it.

Lapid had previously proposed placing the Gaza Strip under Egyptian administration.

At the time, Egypt rejected Lapid's proposal and insisted on an end to the war, a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the return of the Palestinian Authority to the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his opposition to Gaza being under the control of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, but has refrained from offering an alternative.

Over the past few days, Israel has intensified its genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip, committing dozens of horrific massacres. This coincided with US President Donald Trump's tour of the region, which included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. During the tour, Trump promised Palestinians in Gaza "a better future and an end to hunger."

Israel has been blockading Gaza for 18 years, leaving approximately 1.5 million Palestinians out of a population of approximately 2.4 million homeless after their homes were destroyed in the war of extermination. The Strip is suffering from a severe famine due to Tel Aviv's closure of the crossings to humanitarian aid.

In early March, the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, which went into effect on January 19, 2025, was concluded. The agreement was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and supported by the United States, and the Palestinian movement adhered to it.

But Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice, evaded the start of the second phase and resumed the genocide in Gaza on March 18, responding to the demands of the most extreme faction within his right-wing government to advance his own political interests, according to Hebrew media.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 174,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands displaced.