Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman does not hide his ambition to end Hamas' rule over Gaza. As an opposition figure, he declared that if he were defense minister, he would give Hamas senior official Ismail Haniyeh 48 hours to return the bodies of two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers and two civilians being held in the Gaza Strip. If Haniyeh refused, Liberman would ensure Haniyeh's death. When Liberman became defense minister at the end of May, he discovered that what looked like an effective, magic solution from a position of opposition appears otherwise from the Office of the Minister of Defense. His dream to bring down Hamas in Gaza has not, however, faded.

Ben Caspit wrote in Al-Monitor on July 13 that Liberman had instructed the defense establishment to prepare plans for Hamas’ overthrow. How the Hamas government will be brought down is not yet known, but it seems that Liberman is looking for the perfect excuse to bring along Netanyahu’s government in supporting the big move he plans against Hamas.

On Aug. 22, the Gaza Strip absorbed the heaviest Israeli air attacks since Operation Protective Edge (2014) in response to the firing of a Qassam rocket, for which a small Salafi organization calling itself Ahfad al-Sahaba claimed responsibility. Liberman ignored the indirect messages Hamas leaders sent to Israel declaring that they were not interested in an escalation and had already acted to halt further rocket fire.

Hamas did not respond to the Israeli air attack, which appeared to be a trap set by the defense minister. The organization refused to be dragged into a larger conflict, which could have helped Liberman realize his dream. In a conversation with Al-Monitor, Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, said that his organization is not interested in another violent confrontation with Israel, yet hinted that the movement could not stand idly by if the IDF continues to attack indiscriminately in Gaza.