Retired Major General Giora Eiland stated that rebuilding the Gaza Strip is not in Israel's interest and called for permanent control over the Yellow Line, revealing radical views within the security establishment.
Retired Major General Giora Eiland, former head of Israel's National Security Council, has publicly advocated for the Gaza Strip to remain destroyed for decades. On Sunday, he told Israeli radio 103FM that rebuilding the area is not in Israel's interest, calling Palestinian despair and destruction desirable outcomes.
"Israel has no interest in Gaza being rebuilt; it is better for us that it remains destroyed for generations to come," Eiland said. He added: "The greater the despair in Gaza and the greater the destruction, and the greater the monument to what they did on October 7th, in the years to come, the better."
Eiland, a secular Israeli nationalist close to opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman, often goes a step further than the publicly declared policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This time, he advocated for permanent Israeli control over the so-called Yellow Line, the border that the Israeli military occupies within Gaza, which could encompass about 70 percent of the Strip's territory.
Using a historical comparison, Eiland said: "In war... the losing side loses. Germany, which lost World War II, was forced to cede 25 percent of its territory." According to him, the territory is not intended for settlement but as a "security buffer between settlements and where the IDF can be stationed."
Although he politically disagrees with Netanyahu, Eiland also criticized the way Israel treats Washington. "I believe that the entire Israeli approach to the U.S. in recent years has been outrageous. It relies excessively on the personal relationship between Netanyahu and Trump, which is good on some days and less good on others," he said.
Eiland suggested that Netanyahu should conditionally accept the American plan for Gaza rather than outright rejecting it. The 15-point plan of former President Donald Trump was formally rejected by Netanyahu on Sunday, and Eiland described it as "pro-Hamas." "You should never say no; you should always say yes, but... or yes in the sense that I agree if certain points are met," he explained.
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, Israeli forces have killed at least 1,258 Palestinians and wounded 4,139, according to data reported by Middle East Eye. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced earlier this week that at least 300 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the past 10 months.
Since the start of the Israeli offensive on October 7, 2023, at least 73,386 Palestinians have been killed and 174,250 wounded. AFP photographer Omar Al Qattaa documented the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on August 2, 2026.
