Tzvika Mor, father of Gaza hostage Eitan Mor and co-founder of the Tikva Forum, said that Israel should expand its territory when “war is forced upon us” in an interview with Army Radio on Sunday. Israel should “return to the old Mapai Party approach: Every time a war is forced upon us, we should expand our territory,” Mor said.
Mor denounced plans to expand IDF operations, stating that the previous increase in IDF activity in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Gideon’s Chariots, did not defeat Hamas, and doing “more of the same” would be pointless, along with commenting that Israel should expand its territory into Gaza.
The Tikva Forum is known to be more hawkish in its attitudes towards any hostage exchange deal, including previously denouncing it and clashing with both the government and the more centrist Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Eitan Mor was a security guard at the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, when he was captured by Hamas terrorists and has been held captive in Gaza since. His family has stated they received signs of life on at least two occasions, in March 2024 and February 2025.
Other members of the Mor family reportedly softened their views towards the hostage deal after seeing the critical health condition of Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami during their February release. These comments follow the security cabinet approving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to occupy Gaza City, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Friday morning. Notably, this is not a full occupation of the Strip but specifically of Gaza City.
“It’s possible to achieve a decisive outcome. I want all of Gaza, migration, and settlement. The plan will not endanger soldiers,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told
Timeline of Israel's plans to occupy Gaza City
Netanyahu asserted that the IDF would only be expanding operations to demilitarize Hamas in a statement on X/Twitter on Friday.
“We are not going to occupy Gaza; we are going to free Gaza from Hamas.
“Gaza will be demilitarized, and a peaceful civilian administration will be established, one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organization. This will help free our hostages and ensure Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel in the future.”
Several members of the security cabinet, who spoke with The Jerusalem Post following Thursday’s decision to launch an operation to capture Gaza City, acknowledged that the plan is unlikely to lead to Hamas’s defeat or the return of the hostages.
“This plan may be better than what IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir proposed, but it is still far from being a good plan,” said the ministers.
The Israeli military will “continue to express our position without fear,” Zamir said on Thursday, in his first comments made since reports of disagreements between the military and the government on a proposed complete occupation of Gaza.
“We are dealing with matters of life and death in the defense of the country, and we do so while looking toward our soldiers and the civilians of Israel,” Zamir said Thursday at a situational assessment, just a few hours before the critical security cabinet meeting.
“We will continue to act with responsibility, integrity, and determination, with only the security and well-being of Israel in mind,” he said.
Amichai Stein, Sarah Ben-Nun, James Genn, and Reuters contributed to this report.