From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Bennett: Netanyahu gave up on defeating Hamas, ‘gave the Qataris the keys to Gaza’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
There is a direct connection between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions and Hamas’s rearming in Gaza, declares former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
Speaking at the Gaza border town of Netiv Ha’asara, Bennett says that Hamas has “rehabilitated itself” while “the government of Israel simply threw up its hands and completely abandoned Gaza” and Qatar, which “funded [Hamas’s] Nukhba [force] took back the reins, and now a Hamas-istan is rising under our noses again.”
“Hamas has restored its command system, they appointed company commanders, battalion commanders, brigade commanders, rearmed themselves with long-range missiles, UAVs, drones, and weaponry and are now digging the tunnels anew,” Bennett says, adding that they are “already training for the next massacre.”
Slamming the “the dangerous agreement” over the future of Gaza being promoted by Trump’s Board of Peace, Bennett says “a direct line connects the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to what is happening here behind the fence: Netanyahu gave up on eliminating Hamas, brought Qatar into the Prime Minister’s Office, and later gave the Qataris the keys to Gaza.”
Bennett has repeatedly slammed Netanyahu over the so-called Qatargate affair involving allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu.
The Times of Israel Community.