Eisenkot and Lapid Reveal Divergent Gaza Plans in Israeli Campaign

The Israeli elections held on October 27 present candidates with differing strategies for the Gaza Strip, even as settlement data suggests little change in the West Bank under any likely administration. Dr. Ramzy Baroud, a journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, analyzed the campaign platforms for local readers concerned with the region's trajectory. He noted that while domestic disputes dominate Israeli media, the practical consequences for Palestinians remain consistent across the political spectrum.

First, the candidates propose specific mechanisms for resolving the conflict in Gaza. Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and former military chief, pledged to end Hamas rule within 18 months of taking office. He cited either the Trump framework or continued war as potential methods to achieve this goal. Yair Lapid, the opposition leader and former prime minister, proposed a different approach. He suggested placing Gaza under Egyptian administration for a period of 15 years, a plan that would transfer administrative responsibility to an Arab state.

Second, settlement expansion has accelerated under governments of various political alignments, undermining the notion that a change in leadership will halt construction. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics recorded that the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, rose from 111,673 to 140,235 between 1992 and 1995. This increase occurred during the Oslo peace process under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and represented a rise of more than 25 percent. The same trend persisted under later administrations, including the Labor government of Ehud Barak.

Third, recent data indicates a sharp increase in land appropriation and settler violence. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that Israeli authorities declared approximately 29,335 dunums of Palestinian land as state land between October 2023 and August 2026. By September 2026, the Commission had documented plans for more than 18,000 additional settlement housing units across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the first seven months of 2026, settler attacks increased by 63 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

The political landscape includes specific figures who support expansion regardless of their public image. Eisenkot openly supports the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite his reputation as a moderate alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett supports continued Israeli military control until Palestinian groups are disarmed. The disagreement among these leaders often centers on timing and strategy rather than the fundamental objective of maintaining military presence.

Context for these claims comes from statistical records and commission reports. Peace Now data showed that the Bennett-Lapid government advanced plans for 7,292 settlement housing units during its first year, a 26 percent increase over the annual average under previous Netanyahu governments. The West Bank contained 645 Israeli settlement sites, outposts, and other occupation installations by the end of 2025, including 350 settlement outposts. These figures illustrate the physical footprint of the occupation that candidates intend to maintain or expand.