Israel suggests it could annex parts of Gaza if Hamas rejects cease-fire deal

Israel could announce a plan to annex parts of the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas to accept a cease-fire deal, according to a cabinet minister.

Security cabinet member Zeev Elkin accused Hamas of trying to drag out the peace talks to gain leverage over Israel, with the official claiming an ultimatum was necessary to threaten the terror group into taking the negotiations seriously.

“The most painful thing for our enemy is losing lands,” he told local KAN public broadcaster.

He said that the plan is a “significant pressure tool” to tell Hamas that, “the moment they play games with us they will lose land that they will never get back.”

Israel and the US pulled their negotiation teams from Qatar last week after accusing Hamas of showing “a lack of desire to reach a cease-fire.”

The terror group, which still holds 20 living hostages in the Gaza Strip, has maintained that it will not agree to any deal that does not ensure a permanent end to the war, a condition Israel has slammed as a non-starter as its leaders vowed to keep the fight going until Hamas is eradicated.

Since the war began following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, members of Israel’s far-right coalition have called for the full annexation of the Gaza Strip, a proposal slammed by most of the international community.

Elkin’s warning comes just a day after the UK presented its own ultimatum to Israel, calling on the Jewish state to end the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza or else Britain would join France and formally recognize a Palestinian state before the UN in September.

Israel has repeatedly rejected any and all proposals for a two-state solution, saying any such outcome would reward Hamas.

President Trump used the same language on Tuesday following British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ultimatum, warning that the US would not follow suit.

The president, however, joined international calls to address the widespread starvation in Gaza, telling reporters that the US and other nations would “get a lot of money to the area so they can get some food.”

With malnutrition deaths spiking in July, Israel has accused Hamas of using the crisis to drum up support to end the war and force the Jewish state to make concessions.

Israel has since enacted temporary pauses in the fighting to allow more aid to enter Gaza, but dozens of deaths are still being reported after airstrikes hit locations where the stops were ordered.

With Post wires