Rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza. A member of the country’s War Cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages, while the prime minister rejected the United States’ calls to scale back its offensive.
Only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages still held by Islamic militants in Gaza, and claims they could be freed by other means was spreading “illusions,” said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of four members of the War Cabinet, in his first public statements on the course of the war.
Eisenkot’s comments late Thursday were the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israel’s offensive on Hamas, now in its fourth month.
Sparked by an unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas raid into Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverized much of the Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people. Israel has said more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza, but not all of them are believed to be alive.
Can we stop calling it the “War against Hamas” and start calling it the “Palestinian genocide”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A member of the country’s War Cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages, while the prime minister rejected the United States’ calls to scale back its offensive.
Speaking during a nationally televised news conference Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launchpad for attacks on Israel.
Commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahu’s objectives are realistic, given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide accusations at the United Nations world court, which Israel vehemently denies.
Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of postwar scenarios in order to avoid looming investigations of governmental failures, keep his coalition intact and put off elections.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to target international shipping despite U.S.-led airstrikes.
The United States conducted a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as President Joe Biden acknowledged that bombing the militants has yet to stop their attacks on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor.
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