Jerusalem, 15 October, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot pledged on Thursday that Hamas would no longer rule the Gaza Strip within 18 months of his taking office as prime minister.
“I commit that within 18 months of entering the Prime Minister’s Office, Hamas will no longer control the Gaza Strip,” Eisenkot declared during a visit to the Gaza Strip border.
The former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff presented the pledge as a clear timetable for ending Hamas rule, a central security challenge following the October 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war.
His statement places Gaza’s postwar governance at the center of his political agenda, although the declaration alone does not specify how his government would remove Hamas from power or what authority would replace it. But Eisenkot’s commitment does offer voters a measurable deadline for achieving a major strategic objective if he becomes prime minister.
