As we all know Netanyahu doesn't give a toss about the hostages so if Hamas had returned the hostages on day 1, Israel would still have gone ahead with the annihilation of Gaza.
This has always been Netanyahu’s plan.
It isn’t so much about Gaza and the Palestinians to him (although he obviously does want the land), this is also as much about showing Iran Israel’s strength of force.
I can’t remember when it was exactly or what it was he exactly said but, maybe in 2018 or so, after a spate of rockets attacks by Hamas from Gaza into Israel, he said that one day Israel would retaliate with the full force of war to the point that Gaza wouldn’t exist anymore.
As well as it being about taking Gaza into Israeli land, it is as much him getting his guns out to show Iran that they aren’t to be fucked with and the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians mean nothing to him on his way to giving Iran the warning.
He’s also gone after the Houthis, Hezbollah, Al-Assad because they are all backed by Iran.
He was always just waiting for his excuse to enact this, and the terror attack on Oct7th 2023 and the hostage taking was that excuse. But if Oct7th hadn’t happened, it would have just been the next time something happened even if no hostages were taken.
Gaza and the Palestinians are also used by Iran. Iran don’t directly attack Israel themselves, they fund proxy terrorist groups to do it for them.
The Palestinians mean nothing to either side. They’re used as an example of fodder for Israel’s show of force to Iran, and are used as proxy terrorists for the Iran’s aims to destabilise Israel.
The poor Palestinians are caught in the middle of something they have no control over or say in anything with regards to either side. Even if Hamas return the hostages and surrender, even if Hamas disbanded and ceased to exist, Iran would just fund Palistinian Islamic Jihad or some other group of terrorists instead of Hamas, and Israel would keep attacking the Palestinians because they would use the terror attacks by whichever the next group of Iran backed terrorists as an excuse to destroy Gaza, and it would all just continue.
Eventually Gaza won’t exist and Israel will be bigger. But Iran will back a West Bank terror group or they’ll up their backing of Hezbollah further and it will be a Israel:Lebanon war, and hundreds of thousands of other people will be used as fodder by both sides, with even more excuse for Israel to take land elsewhere.