‘Wow’: Brit Hume Says If Hamas Won’t Fold Then Israel Might Do What It’s Spent 20 Years Avoiding

Brit Hume warned on Fox News Monday that Israel may soon be forced into a drastic shift in strategy as the war against Hamas drags on with no end in sight.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to launch an “intensive” expanded offensive against Hamas after his security cabinet approved plans that could include seizing the Gaza Strip and controlling humanitarian aid. During an appearance on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Hume suggested Israel may no longer see an alternative to reasserting control in Gaza.

“The president himself obviously would like to have some progress toward the release of the hostages and the other remaining issues with Hamas. But that remains up in the air as well with the possibility now existing that the Israelis are going to do what they stopped doing in 2005. When they got out of Gaza, they occupied the place, as you recall, Bret, for a long time, and the Israelis pulled out in 2005,” Hume said. “That didn’t stop Hamas from complaining bitterly about the continued occupation, which was no more. But here we are after all this, and it looks like Israel could be back in Gaza and taking charge of the place. Wow.”

Hume described the current crisis as a boiling point, as Iran-backed Houthis continue launching missile attacks.

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“The United States has been bombing the Houthis for many weeks now. And no doubt did serious damage to the Houthis’ positions and weaponry has been done. But yet they’re still firing missiles and still causing problems,” Hume said. “So one wonders about the future of that endeavor. In the meantime, of course, Israel, now having been hit by a Houthi missile right by the Ben Gurion Airport there in Tel Aviv, is shooting back now too, so that situation has intensified. The president, of course, is coming to the Middle East.”

It was reported in March that Israeli officials plan to meet with U.S. diplomats this week to discuss the possibility of fully occupying Gaza. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will lead the talks after Hamas rejected two U.S. hostage deal proposals and Israel resumed military operations on March 18. (RELATED: Trump Says Israel ‘Made A Very Big Mistake’ By Bombing Gaza)

President Donald Trump said in April that U.S. and Iranian officials will hold high-level nuclear talks following his warnings about consequences if Iran refuses a deal. Trump previously suggested the U.S. could take control of Gaza, describing the territory as a long-standing “symbol of death and destruction.”

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