War between Israel and Hamas: The rift between Netanyahu and the Israeli forces deepens because of Hamas

An Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said in an interview with Channel 13 late Wednesday: “Hamas cannot be destroyed. Hamas is an idea. Anyone who thinks it can be made to disappear is wrong.”

In what is seen as a rare and clear message from the military to the Israeli political leadership, Hagari continued: “We can create something new to replace Hamas. Who will it be? What will it be? That is for the political leadership to decide.”

His comments were immediately rejected by the Prime Minister’s Office, while Netanyahu took his usual political position, reiterating that only a “total victory” and the destruction of Hamas could end the Gaza conflict.

“Netanyahu has defined the destruction of Hamas’ military and government capabilities as one of the war’s aims,” ​​his office tweeted in response. “The Israeli forces are of course obliged to do so.”

The Israel Defense Forces appeared to support Hagari’s comments, saying they were made “explicitly and clearly.” They stressed that the Israel Defense Forces “remain committed to achieving the war objectives set by the War Cabinet, will work tirelessly throughout the war, and will continue to do so.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has issued statements expressing deep concerns throughout the defense establishment that the government’s lack of a political strategy in Gaza could allow Hamas to regroup. Benny Gantz and Gadi Eizenkot, members of the war cabinet of a centrist political coalition, have resigned after calling on Netanyahu to adopt a post-war plan for Gaza.

Washington has also advised senior Israeli politicians to “link the military operations (in Gaza) to a political strategy,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Israel last month. So far, Netanyahu has sharply attacked critics of his strategy and refused to bow to pressure to draw up a plan for the next few days.

The United States and some members of the Israeli military apparatus have envisioned a postwar role for a reformed Palestinian Authority administering parts of the West Bank. But Netanyahu’s government has repeatedly rejected any role, and the State Department under Netanyahu’s ally Israel Katz recently launched a social media campaign to discredit the idea.

Street protests are also escalating in Israel. On Thursday, demonstrators again blocked highways in Tel Aviv and near the city of Caesarea, where Netanyahu lives. Families of hostages and others held up signs and placards, blocked traffic and demanded elections and the release of the hostages. Einav Zangauker, the mother of one of the hostages, sharply attacked Netanyahu.

“You have chosen your political survival over the people and the hostages,” she told Israeli media, addressing Netanyahu. “The guilt will follow you to the grave. You cannot escape it.”

The debate over the future of Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip comes as aid agencies report a deteriorating humanitarian situation following the Israeli military’s invasion of the southern city of Rafah, which began in May and severely disrupted humanitarian activities.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update this week that “hundreds of thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza” continue to suffer from a lack of access to shelter, health care, food, water and sanitation. Nearly 60 percent of Gaza’s cropland has been destroyed, it said, while Gaza’s food supply chain is “severely disrupted.”

According to Georgios Petropoulos, head of the OCHA branch in the Gaza Strip, looting is increasing amid the increasingly desperate situation and is hampering aid deliveries and humanitarian operations.

Because there is no public order and rule of law “in southern Gaza,” cigarette smuggling has exploded along the Egyptian border, he told the Post.

“Criminals, cartels, smuggling organizations and families have realized that there is a lot of money to be made by importing cigarettes through this one supply chain that is not really guarded,” he said.

The smugglers then take the cigarettes from the aid trucks by forcibly stopping them as they cross Gaza or by showing up armed in front of aid camps, Petropoulos said. “We can’t really continue to work in this environment.”

A carton of cigarettes sells for $3,000 to $5,000 in Gaza, Petropoulos said.

The Cypriot president stressed that his country was “in no way involved in the hostilities” in the Middle East. Nikos Christodoulides tweeted on Thursday that the island nation was instead “part of the solution,” referring to humanitarian aid and support for Gaza. His response followed comments by Hasan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah, who warned Cyprus this week against getting involved in the conflict and insinuated that the small country was ready to help Israeli forces. Nasrallah provided no evidence for his claims.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have turned the lives of Syrian refugees upside down who live and work near the border. In southern Lebanon, the fighting has displaced more than 95,000 people and destroyed homes and farmland where many Syrians worked as day laborers, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The United Nations Environmental Programme published a report This week we detail the environmental impacts of the Gaza conflict. “Systems and facilities for sewage and waste disposal have collapsed,” the report said. The destruction of buildings, roads and other infrastructure has generated over 39 million tons of rubble, it added, “some of which is contaminated with unexploded ordnance, asbestos and other hazardous materials. Human remains are buried in this huge amount of rubble.”

Since the beginning of the war, at least 37,431 people have been killed and 85,653 injured in Gazasaid the Gaza Health Ministry on Thursday. It makes no distinction between civilians and fighters, but says that the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that around 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, including more than 300 soldiers. Since the start of military operations in Gaza, 310 soldiers have been killed, it says.

Lior Soroka and Miriam Berger contributed to this report.