In response to the "but Hamas" folk:
The assault on Gaza has been in the cards for many, many years. Bezalel Smotrich, a key player in Natanyahu’s government, spells out its purpose very clearly in in his “Decisive Plan” from 2017 (i.e. 6 years before October 7th). Note: he is also the leader who said publicly that returning hostages was “not the most important thing”.
Here’s what he thinks the most important thing is (quoted word for word, my emphasis in bold):
"The first and most important stage in the decisive "One Hope" plan will involve settlement. At this stage we will establish the most important basic fact: We are here to stay. We will make it clear that our national ambition for a Jewish State from the river to the sea is an accomplished fact, a fact not open to discussion or negotiation.
This stage will be realized via a political-legal act of imposing sovereignty on all Judea and Samaria [the West Bank and Gaza], and with concurrent acts of settlement: the establishment of cities and towns, the laying down of infrastructure as is customary in "little" Israel and the encouragement of tens and hundreds of thousands of residents to come live in Judea and Samaria. In this way, we will be able to create a clear and irreversible reality on the ground.
Nothing would have a greater and deeper effect on the consciousness of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria, deflating their illusions of a Palestinian state and demonstrating the impossibility of establishing another Arab state west of the Jordan. Facts on the ground deflate aspirations and defeat ambitions. Let the settlement blocs attest to this.
The development of Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria in a sovereign and established manner will also contribute to solving the housing shortage in the State of Israel. Many state lands in Judea and Samaria in the center of the country can be made available at much lower prices than the average property within the Green Line, thus increasing the supply of affordable housing in Israel by hundreds of thousands of units.
Of course, it won't happen overnight. It will take time, especially since we have foolishly spent the last three decades cultivating the illusion that an Arab state can become a reality. After years of acquiescence to the universal adoption of the "two-state solution” paradigm it is natural, as noted, that some time is required to convince the same world that it isn’t going to happen, and to demonstrate that we have rethought our path and that we are determined that a Palestinian state will not emerge. But this is what we must do, thus leaving no purpose left for terror."
The link to his plan is here.