Benjamin Netanyahu defies ex-army chiefs as he hints at new Gaza offensive despite calls to end war with Hamas
CONQUER CALL Benjamin Netanyahu defies ex-army chiefs as he hints at new Gaza offensive despite calls to end war with Hamas
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ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at wider military action in Gaza despite former army and intelligence chiefs calling for the war to end.
A security cabinet meeting was postponed last night amid mounting tensions about possible plans for a 'full occupation' of the battered Middle Eastern strip.
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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at a possible Gaza escalation despite calls to end the war with Hamas
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Mr Netanyahu was said to be considering taking total control of the Palestinian-occupied territory to end the 22-month fight against Hamas.
Senior Israeli military officials warned it could endanger the lives of captured hostages and further isolate the nation on the world stage.
But local media reported Mr Netanyahu had already made up his mind, quoting an unnamed senior official saying: 'The die has been cast.
'We're going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas.'
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Previously, In a fiery address Sunday night, the Mr Netanyahu declared that Israel would press forward with a "decisive military victory" to free the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu again vowed to crush Hamas, which he said was deliberately starving captives in scenes chillingly reminiscent of the Nazi death camps.
Referencing horror hostage videos released by Hamas, he said: "You see them languishing in a dungeon, but the Hamas monsters surrounding them have thick, fleshy arms.
"They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews."
The footage — released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week and approved for publication by the families — shows the hostages visibly emaciated, trembling, and close to collapse.
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Napoleon Bonaparte once received some memorable words of advice from that wily French diplomat and statesman Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord. The great general's ill-judged decision to kidnap and execute a royalist opponent in 1804, which sent shudders of fear around European capitals, was 'worse than a crime ', remarked Talleyrand. 'It was a mistake.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might consider those words as he draws up plans to intensify the war in Gaza. Crime or no crime, he is making a huge mistake. Why, in ordering a ground assault on densely populated Gaza City – an initiative announced in the early hours of Friday morning – is Netanyahu adopting a policy that splits both Israeli opinion and his own military advisers? Perhaps a prime minister who has led his country through so many crises for 25 years thinks he can strike a decisive blow and crush Hamas terrorists in their bunkers – as Hitler was eventually destroyed 80 years ago. Israel, for obvious reasons, is haunted by the lessons of the Second World War. Netanyahu's supporters point out that Allied forces killed countless thousands of civilians in order to defeat Hitler and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Nor should we underestimate the sheer trauma of the bloodshed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 Israeli civilians and took a further 250 hostages to be used, despicably, as human shields. Israel feels its very survival is at stake. And it is certainly true that Hamas, although crippled, is not eradicated. After 22 months of war, Israel's campaign of bombs and rockets has reached its limit of effectiveness because so much is destroyed already. While Israel now controls about 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip, the most heavily populated coastal area and Gaza City itself remain unoccupied. Even in the areas where the Israeli army does hold sway, some fighting continues. But sending Israeli sons and brothers to fight hand-to-hand in Gaza City's maze of courtyards and tunnels? Perhaps the prime minister has been dazzled by the brilliance of Israel's intelligence strikes against Hezbollah and Iran. Or by the overwhelming success of its attacks on Hamas, led by planes, rockets and robots of superlative sophistication. There are personal reasons why Netanyahu might wish to prolong the conflict, of course. His hard-Right coalition partners want the fighting to continue – and without their support, his government falls. The prime minister is in legal jeopardy, moreover. While the serious fraud charges levelled against him in three cases at home are unrelated to Gaza, he might well feel that Israel's continuing state of emergency is essential to prolong his trial. It has worked so far. And that kicking the can down the road is no more than common sense while he remains in office and out of jail. However, Israel's military success to date emphatically does not mean it can occupy Gaza City – which still has a population of 800,000 – without enormous bloodshed. And none are more sceptical than Israel's own commanders who fear, with good reason, that they are walking into a trap. The Israel Defence Forces have been mounting raids into Gaza City since 2023; its troops and tanks have faced fierce resistance both above ground and in the darkness below. Netanyahu is demanding his soldiers clear out a spider's web of tunnels offering sanctuary for terrorist fighters as well as dungeons for the surviving hostages. Casualties will grow. Israeli army officers and veterans have already spoken out, fearing the assault will drag soldiers – and Israel itself – into a quagmire. Relatives of the surviving hostages understandably fear an army offensive will lead to their deaths, too. 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