First signs of official Israeli rift over
Leading member of war cabinet questions prime minister Netenyahu’s claims that continued military action can see hostages freed
High-ranking Israeli officials are beginning to cast doubts over the official handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
One member of the country’s war cabinet questioned the strategy for releasing hostages as the country’s prime minister rejected calls from the US to scale back its offensive.
Only a ceasefire 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 conflict.
Mr Eisenkot’s comments late on Thursday are 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 October 7 Hamas raid into Israel which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in about
250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverised 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.
Israel’s offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians and uprooted more than 80 per cent of the territory’s population.
Israel has also cut off all but a trickle of supplies into the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel. Several dozen lorries with critical supplies now enter the territory each day, just a fraction of the pre-war volume of about 500.
Both the US and United Nations have said more aid needs to be delivered.
A communications blackout in the territory – which hampers the co-ordination of aid deliveries – was in its seventh day yesterday, the longest such blackout since the war began.
The US, Israel’s closest ally, has provided strong military and political support for the campaign but has been increasingly calling on Israel to scale back its assault and take steps toward establishing a Palestinian state after the war – a suggestion Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soundly rejected.
Speaking during a nationally televised press conference on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution, arguing that a Palestinian state would become a launchpad for attacks on Israel.
Israel “must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River”, Mr Netanyahu said, adding: “That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”
Washington has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem – all captured by Israel in 1967 – for their state.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the two-state solution is the best way to protect Israel, unify moderate Arab countries and isolate Israel’s arch-enemy, Iran.
He said that without a pathway to a Palestinian state, Israel will not “get genuine security”.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom is ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. “But that can only happen through a Palestinian state,” he said.
A spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority, said late on Thursday that there can be “no security and stability in the region” without a Palestinian state.
Mr Netanyahu and defence
minister Yoav Gallant have said the fighting will continue until Hamas is crushed, and argue that only military action can win the hostages’ release.
Hamas seeks an end to the war before discussing hostage releases and has demanded the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for those held captive in Gaza.
Commentators have begun to question whether Mr 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.
Mr 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.
Polls show that the popularity of Mr Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has plummeted during the war.
Mr Eisenkot, whose son was killed in December in Gaza, told the investigative programme Uvda on Israel’s Channel 12 television station on Thursday that “the hostages will only return alive if there is a deal, linked to a significant pause in fighting”.
He said dramatic rescue operations are unlikely because the hostages are apparently spread out, many of them in underground tunnels.
Claiming hostages can be freed by means other than a deal “is to spread illusions”, he said.
In a thinly veiled criticism of Mr Netanyahu, Mr Eisenkot also said strategic decisions about the war's direction must be made urgently, and that a discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after the war began. He also dismissed suggestions that the military has delivered a decisive blow against Hamas.