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Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Former Israeli officials call for end to war in Gaza as Netanyahu hints at expansion
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at wider military action in devastated Gaza on Tuesday, even as former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs called for an end to the nearly 22-month war. The new pressure on Netanyahu came as Gaza's Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll had surpassed 61,000. Health officials reported new deaths of hungry Palestinians seeking food at distribution points. As desperation mounts, the Israeli defence body co-ordinating aid announced a deal with local merchants to improve aid deliveries. Among those speaking out were former leaders of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, Mossad spy agency and the military – and also ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In a video posted to social media this week, they said far-right members of the government are holding Israel 'hostage' in prolonging the conflict. Netanyahu's objectives in Gaza are 'a fantasy,' Yoram Cohen, former head of Shin Bet, said in the video. 'If anyone imagines that we can reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon, and in parallel bring our hostages home – I think it is impossible,' he said. Explainer: What to know as Israel weighs reoccupying the entire Gaza Strip Netanyahu convened his Security Cabinet to direct the military on the war's next stage, hinting that even tougher action was possible. However, the meeting wrapped up hours later without any announcements about Israel's plans. U.S. President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he wasn't aware of the 'suggestion' but that 'it's going to be pretty much up to Israel.' Netanyahu said his objectives include defeating Hamas, releasing all 50 remaining hostages and ensuring Gaza never again threatens Israel after the Hamas-led 2023 attack sparked the war. Israeli media reported disagreements between Netanyahu and the army chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, on how to proceed. The reports, citing anonymous officials in Netanyahu's office, said the prime minister was pushing the army, which controls about three quarters of Gaza, to conquer the entire territory – a step that could endanger hostages, deepen the humanitarian crisis and further isolate Israel internationally. Zamir reportedly opposes this step and could step down or be pushed out if it is approved. Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment on the reports. Health officials in Gaza said Israeli forces opened fire on Tuesday morning toward Palestinians seeking aid and in targeted attacks in central and southern Gaza, killing at least 45 people. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said after previous shootings around aid distribution that it only fired warning shots at people who approached its forces. The dead include at least 26 people killed in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone where looters and desperate crowds unloaded U.N. aid convoys. Analysis: Movement to recognize Palestinian statehood reflects Israel's growing isolation Six people were killed in Teina, near a road leading to a site run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor. Morgue records at the nearby Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, detailed the deaths and locations. The hospital is part of the Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but says roughly half the dead from the war have been women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The United Nations and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of casualty data. Sami Arafat, a father of seven, described the chaos in the Morag Corridor early Tuesday, saying crowds rushed toward a convoy of U.N. aid trucks and Israeli forces fired toward them. 'There are no buildings to shelter us from the shooting,' he said. 'The area is all rubble.' He said looters brandishing knives climbed aboard the trucks first and tore into the aid boxes, taking sugar that could be resold at the market while leaving less expensive rice behind. Elsewhere in central Gaza, Al-Awda hospital said it received the bodies of six Palestinians who were killed when Israeli troops targeted crowds near another GHF aid distribution site. The GHF said there were no incidents at its sites Tuesday and that most of the recent violence has been linked to U.N. aid deliveries. Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites, airdropped parcels and aid convoys, according to witnesses, local health officials and the U.N. human rights office. Israel's military says it only has fired warning shots and disputes the toll. The Israeli defence body in charge of co-ordinating aid, COGAT, said on social media there will be a 'gradual and controlled renewal of the entry of goods through the private sector in Gaza.' It said a limited number of local merchants were approved for the plan. Mohammed Qassas from Khan Younis said his young children are so hungry that he is forced to storm aid trucks, which rarely reach warehouses these days because they are stopped by hungry crowds. 'How am I supposed to feed them? No one has mercy,' he said Monday. 'If we fight, we get the food. If we don't fight, we don't get anything.' It has become routine to see men returning from aid-seeking carrying bodies as well as sacks of flour. Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory's slide toward famine. Aid groups say Israel's week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, and blame Hamas. As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks. Opinion: As a Jewish Canadian, I want my community to speak out about the horrors in Gaza Palestinians gather daily for funeral prayers. 'We are unarmed people who cannot endure this,' shouted Maryam Abu Hatab in the yard of Nasser hospital. Ekram Nasr said her son was shot dead while seeking aid near the Morag corridor. 'I had to go alone to carry my son,' she said, tears in her eyes. 'I collected the remains of my son like the meat of dogs from the streets.' 'The entire world is watching,' she added. 'They are watching our patience, our strength and our faith in God. But we no longer have the power to endure.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel must defeat Hamas via strategic erosion, isolation, ex-senior Shin Bet official says
Hamas's collapse will not be accomplished through submission, but rather through strategic erosion and separation from the population, Moshe Fuzaylov said. The collapse of Hamas will not be accomplished through submission, but rather through strategic erosion and separation of the terrorist organization from the population it relies on, according to Moshe Fuzaylov, a senior researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and a former senior Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official. 'The campaign in Gaza is at a crossroads,' he told Maariv on Thursday. 'Hamas's complete defeat has not yet been achieved, and the West, with its dwindling support, is signaling to Israel to come down from the tree,' he added. Israel needs to change its strategy Fuzaylov warned that the window of opportunity is closing and called for a conceptual shift in Israel's strategy. 'The military history of eliminating guerrilla movements teaches a simple truth: Whoever wants to subdue a sub-state organization must cut it off from the population, isolate it from supplies, and create a psychological rift between the leadership and the 'believers,'' he said. 'We have a rare opportunity to implement this now – without returning Gaza to Hamas.' Hamas survives not due to its military power, but rather because of the civic network it has built, Fuzaylov said. 'Hamas relies on a frightened population, supply chains backed by international elements, and a religious faith it has managed to claim as messianic,' he said. The tools for eroding support for Hamas can be found within Islam, Fuzaylov said. 'As is known in the Islamic tradition, there is no obligation to fight when there is weakness of believers, da'f al-mu'minin, and the good of the nation, 'maslahat al-ummah,' must be placed above the whims of a lost jihad,' he said. 'This message, if it reaches Gaza correctly, may be received not as surrender but as religious permission for compromise.' To weaken Hamas's hold, Fuzaylov proposed a series of practical and exceptional measures. 'Israel should impose a complete land-sea-air blockade on the 25% of the Strip that remains under Hamas control, while completely cutting off supplies,' he said. 'This is not about starvation for the sake of punishment, but as a means of cutting off Hamas terrorists from the population and breaking mass support. This is a prerequisite for any process of minority – the reduction of the organization and its influence.' Fuzaylov suggested a move to encourage emigration from within the Gaza Strip. 'A plan should be promoted to move the population out voluntarily – both from the 25% of the area where Hamas terrorists will remain isolated and through the agreed removal of the Gaza population from the Strip,' he said. 'This could be done by encouraging moderate Arab countries to absorb Palestinians in exchange for generous American-European aid or through immigration operations initiated by Israel through the Mossad. Immigration, even if limited, would create a shift in consciousness: a message that Gaza is no longer an impenetrable fortress but a space of collapse.' Fuzaylov proposed establishing three temporary Nahal outposts within Gaza. 'Israel will not retreat under pressure,' he said, adding that these outposts would not function as civilian settlements, but rather as a military-political ploy: drawing a new border line, sending a message to mediators that 'we will stay until you replace Hamas,' and deterring Egypt and Ramallah. Israel's weakness can be seen as a potential opportunity, Fuzaylov said. 'It is precisely from its weakness that Israel could create a rare international incentive: handing Gaza over to an international-Arab body under American supervision,' he said. 'If Israel commits to reducing Hamas to a minority – socially and organizationally – even without fully eliminating it, Washington might be tempted to get involved. 'Responsibility for Gaza's socioeconomic recovery could be transferred to civilian hands, and Israel's strategic goal would be achieved: Hamas will be marginalized, disarmed, delegitimized, and ready to compromise on the hostages.' Reverse the dilemma Fuzaylov emphasized the need to reverse the dilemma Israel faces. 'Almost two years in which Hamas has been impaling Israel on the horns of the dilemma, between its values: the value of ransoming the prisoners and the value of Hamas's decision,' he said. 'The time has come to transfer the dilemma to Hamas: to impale it on the horns of the dilemma between losing the land and the nation and giving up the hostages and weapons.' 'A modern decision does not always require a white flag,' Fuzaylov said. 'It requires strategic erosion, a division of consciousness, the creation of a minority, and then a compromise. Hamas knows this lesson well – from the Quran to the moves of the Vietnam War. 'Israel can win, but not if it continues to act in terms of containment or surrender. The road to Hamas's minority passes through three stations – a complete blockade, voluntary emigration, and political machinations that penetrate a crack in the ideology – and finally a military blow.' Solve the daily Crossword
