Israel to Hamas: Agree to deal or face annexation of buffer zone

Israel has delivered a stark warning to Hamas: unless a ceasefire agreement is reached within days, it will escalate its military and political response, including the potential annexation of the so-called “perimeter,” a buffer zone established by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) along Gaza’s border.

According to Israeli media, the threat was relayed through mediators engaged in the ongoing indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that one of the measures being actively considered is turning the temporary buffer zone — initially created for operational security — into a permanent annexed area under Israeli control.

Security officials acknowledged that this move would carry significant geopolitical repercussions, but they argue it is being driven by what they described as Hamas’s “continued intransigence” and refusal to engage meaningfully in ceasefire negotiations.

“Despite global calls for an end to the war, despite horrific images coming out of Gaza and mounting accusations of mass starvation, Hamas has not moved an inch toward compromise,” a senior security source said. “Israel will not wait indefinitely.”

The warning comes amid the backdrop of one of the most devastating conflicts in recent Middle East history. The war began in October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Israel responded with a sweeping military campaign aimed at dismantling Hamas’s governing and military structures in the Gaza Strip.

Now the conflict has exacted an enormous humanitarian toll. By late July 2025, Gaza’s health authorities reported that more than 50,000 people had been killed. Large swathes of the densely populated territory have been reduced to ruins. Over a million Palestinians are displaced, struggling to survive amid severe shortages of food, potable water, fuel, and medical care.

Despite these conditions, ceasefire negotiations — mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar — have failed to yield a breakthrough. Core disagreements persist over the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the future political administration of Gaza, and Hamas’s long-term role in the territory. Israel has remained firm in its demand for Hamas’s complete disarmament and removal from power, while Hamas continues to insist on a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

International pressure on Israel has grown considerably, with Western allies, including the US and European powers, increasingly vocal about the need to halt the military campaign and avert a broader regional collapse. But inside Israel, political and military leaders are under pressure from parts of the public and the far-right coalition partners to deliver a decisive end to the war, either by military force or through irreversible territorial changes.

Operations in southern Gaza, particularly around Rafah, continue despite calls for restraint. Simultaneously, tensions along Israel’s northern border have intensified, as Hezbollah has ramped up attacks from Lebanon, raising fears of a second front.

The possible annexation of the Gaza buffer zone — if carried out — would represent a dramatic shift in Israeli policy. While the IDF has previously stated that the security belt along Gaza’s border was a temporary wartime measure, converting it into permanent Israeli territory would mark the first formal redrawing of borders since the 2005 Gaza disengagement.

By Tamilla Hasanova