November 13, 2026
The controversy escalated within the Israeli military establishment regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, as Reserve Colonel Oren Zinni, the former commander of the military training base in “Tselem,” presented two exclusive options for dealing with the Strip, rejecting any compromise solutions, in an interview he conducted with the Israeli “103FM” radio, today, Friday, with the participation of journalist Ron Kaufman and Professor Aryeh Eldad.
Zinni said in his statements: “Either I take complete control of the Gaza Strip, or voluntary immigration. There is no middle option,” warning that the Hamas movement is rebuilding its military capabilities, establishing infrastructure, and manufacturing combat means, which may return Israel to a security situation similar to that before the attack on October 7, 2023.
He considered that the events of October 7 brought about a fundamental shift in Israeli security thinking, abandoning the policy of response and proportionality in favor of the principle of pre-empting strikes, stressing the necessity of continuing military strikes against Hamas and not allowing any other country to impose continued restrictions on Israeli operations.
Regarding the American role, Zinni stressed that Israeli security considerations must take precedence over all other accounts despite the importance of relations with Washington, adding: “When looking clearly at the full picture… the red line for Israel must be the security line.”
Regarding the field, Zinni acknowledged that the Israeli army has not yet been able to destroy all of the infrastructure, underground, and tunnel network in the Gaza Strip, noting that although he is not participating in the situation assessment sessions and does not know the exact number of remaining tunnels, he is “exhausted by all these ideas,” stressing at the same time the necessity of continuing to target Hamas members without exception, saying: “Everyone who belongs to Hamas must die, whether he is a senior official like the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, or an ordinary fighter.”
On the strategic level, Zinni distinguished between the Gaza front and the Iranian threat, considering that Iran represents an existential threat to Israel, unlike the Gaza Strip, which he described as “capable of delivering painful strikes but does not constitute an existential threat,” stressing that if he had to choose, he would choose Iran, before asking why he had to make a comparison between the two fronts in the first place.
Zinni concluded his assurances by saying, based on his personal knowledge of the field and the people, that the Hamas movement will not lay down its weapons and will not stop practicing its military activity. His statements summarize a military vision that rejects compromise and puts the Gaza Strip before the choice of complete military control or “voluntary migration” of its residents.
