Netanyahu and his office have repeatedly said the main goal of the war is to destroy Hamas, but they have avoided talking about how the Gaza Strip will be governed later — insisting that an army be established.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said In an interview with Channel 13 late Wednesday: “Hamas cannot be destroyed. Hamas is an idea. Those who think they can hide it are wrong,” he said.
In what was seen as a rare and pointed message from the military to the Israeli political leadership, Hagari continued: “All we can do is replace Hamas with a new one. Who would it be? What could it be? That should be decided by the political leadership.
His comments were quickly dismissed by the prime minister’s office, as Netanyahu took his familiar political stance, reiterating that only “total victory” and the elimination of Hamas would end the war in Gaza.
“Netanyahu has defined as one of the objectives of the war the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” his office said. Tweeted In replying. “Of course, the IDF is committed to this.”
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The IDF appeared to stand by Hagari’s comments, saying they were made “openly and clearly”. It underscored that the IDF is “committed to achieving the goals of the war, as set by the War Cabinet, and has worked tirelessly to do so throughout the war and will continue to do so.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has issued statements expressing the deep misgivings of the broader security establishment, which fears the government’s lack of political strategy in Gaza will allow Hamas to regroup. Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, war cabinet members of a centrist political coalition, resigned after urging Netanyahu to accept a post-war plan for Gaza.
Israelis trust their military more than their government, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. A poll of 1,001 Israelis conducted between March 3 and April 4 — before Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet — found that 61 percent of Jewish Israelis believed their government would “do what’s right for Israel.”
A majority — 93 percent — of Jewish Israelis say the military has a “very good” or “somewhat good” influence on domestic affairs. The IDF has been the subject of accusations in the international community that the IDF is committing war crimes in Gaza, even as the military has come under scrutiny for what was seen as a lackluster and slow response to a Hamas attack on October 7.
Israelis also favored Gallant over Netanyahu, according to the survey. Seventy-four percent of Jewish Israelis had a favorable opinion of Galant, while 51 percent had a favorable opinion of Netanyahu. Support for both leaders among Palestinian citizens of Israel was marginal: 9 percent had a favorable view of the defense minister and 7 percent had a favorable view of the prime minister.
Washington has advised senior Israeli politicians to “consolidate its military operations [in Gaza] to a political strategy,” US National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said during a visit to Israel last month. So far, Netanyahu has lashed out at critics of his strategy and refused to bow to pressure to create a plan a day later.
The United States and some members of the Israeli military establishment envision a postwar role for the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank. However, Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly denied any role for it, and the Foreign Ministry under Netanyahu ally Israel Katz recently launched a social media campaign to discredit the idea.
Street protests are on the rise in Israel, with demonstrators again on Thursday Blocking highways in Tel Aviv and near the city of Caesarea, where Netanyahu lives. Families of the hostages, along with others, blocked traffic and held placards and placards as they called for elections and the release of the hostages. Einav Tsangkauker, the mother of one of the hostages, lashed out at Netanyahu.
“You have chosen your political survival over people and hostages,” he told Netanyahu in Israeli media. “Guilt will follow you to the grave. You cannot escape it.”
Debate over the future of Israeli operations in Gaza has continued since the IDF’s incursion into the southern city of Rafah, which began in May and severely disrupted humanitarian operations, aid agencies say, as the humanitarian situation worsens.
UN for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said In an update this week, “hundreds of thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza” continue to suffer from poor access to shelter, sanitation, food, water and sanitation. Nearly 60 percent of Gaza’s farmland has been damaged, while the food supply chain in Gaza has been “severely disrupted”.
Amid increasingly desperate situations, looting is worsening and hampering aid delivery efforts and humanitarian operations, says Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza sub-office for OCHA.
Without “any civil order and rule of law in southern Gaza,” cigarette smuggling has exploded across the Egyptian border, he told The Post.
The president of Cyprus has underlined that his country is “in no way involved in hostilities” in the Middle East. Nikos Christodoulides Tweeted On Thursday, instead, the island nation was “part of the solution,” citing humanitarian aid and support for Gaza. His response followed comments this week by Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah, who warned Cyprus against getting involved in the conflict and insisted the small country was ready to help the IDF. Nasrallah did not provide evidence for his claims.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have elevated the lives of Syrian refugees People who live and work near the border. In southern Lebanon, fighting has displaced more than 95,000 people and damaged homes and farmland where many Syrians worked as day laborers, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Published by the UN Environment Programme Report This week describes the environmental impact of the conflict in Gaza. “Sewage, sewage and solid waste management systems and facilities have collapsed,” it found. The destruction of buildings, roads and other infrastructure has generated 39 million tons of debris, it added, “some of which is contaminated with unexploded ordnance, asbestos and other hazardous materials. Human remains are buried in this huge amount of building debris.”
At least 37,431 people have been killed and 85,653 injured since the war in Gaza began.As stated therein Gaza Ministry of Health Thursday. It did not distinguish between civilians and militants, but said most of the dead were women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people, including more than 300 soldiers, were killed in the October 7 attack by Hamas. 310 players have been killed since the start of its military operations in Gaza.
Lear Soroka and Miriam Berger contributed to this report.
