The Israeli army has intensified its aggression on Gaza on the 259th day of the war, despite ongoing losses in personnel and equipment. Why does Netanyahu defy everyone, including generals eager to end the endless war?
On Friday, June 21, Haaretz published an analysis titled “An Endless War, Not Complete Victory: The Army Wants to Leave Gaza But Netanyahu Has Other Ideas,” documenting the chaos engulfing the occupying state and the crises besieging it internally and externally, after failing to achieve the objectives of the Gaza war after 259 days.
This analysis comes just two days after disputes between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military leaders reached an unprecedented level of mutual accusations and blame for continuous failures. The spokesperson for the Israeli army had declared “the impossibility of eliminating Hamas,” to which Netanyahu responded by stating that “the Mini-Cabinet (Security Cabinet) had set the destruction of Hamas’ military and administrative capabilities as one of the war’s objectives and that the Israeli army is bound to achieve this goal.”
Daniel Hageri, spokesperson for the Israeli army, had told Channel 13 on Wednesday, June 19, that “the idea of eliminating Hamas is a delusion in the face of Israeli public opinion,” according to a report by Haaretz. “Anyone who thinks Hamas can be eliminated is mistaken,” Hageri added, directly pointing out the depth of disagreements between Israel’s political and military leaders regarding the prolonged duration of the war on Gaza.
Netanyahu faces off against the army
Later, Hageri issued a statement responding to the Prime Minister’s statements, saying, “The army is committed to achieving the war objectives set by the Cabinet. However, Hamas is an idea and a political party deeply rooted in people’s hearts, and anyone who thinks Hamas can be eliminated is mistaken.”
The army’s spokesperson also added in his statement, “It is impossible to retrieve all Israeli prisoners held in Gaza through military operations. We must find another way to achieve the prisoners’ return.”
The return of prisoners held by Palestinian resistance in Gaza is one of the war’s objectives against the Strip. More than 120 Israelis are still held captive after 257 days of this war, supported unequivocally by the United States, causing over 122,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, leading Tel Aviv to international isolation and legal pursuit before the International Court of Justice.
Although disagreements between political and military levels in Israel are not new in themselves, recent hours have shown these disagreements boiling over. On Tuesday, June 18, Yakov Bardugo, close to Netanyahu, published an article on Channel 14’s website stating, “The Israeli Chief of Staff supports the continuation of Hamas’ rule in Gaza.”
In response, a spokesperson for the Israeli army issued a rare statement condemning the article as a “serious lie with no basis in truth.” The spokesperson clarified that “the Chief of Staff has repeatedly, publicly stated that allowing Hamas to continue its control over Gaza is unacceptable,” according to Haaretz.
The army wants to leave Gaza
According to Haaretz’s Friday analysis, the Israeli army is preparing its forces and Israeli public opinion to end the fighting in Gaza in order to focus on the escalating war on the northern front (with Hezbollah in Lebanon). However, Netanyahu remains trapped in his panicked political network, relying on “frivolity, slogans, and blame games towards the army, protesters, (US President Joe) Biden, and anyone standing in his way.”
The moment of truth in the Gaza war is likely to come within a few weeks, when the Israeli army announces the end of its operations in Rafah without achieving a complete defeat of Hamas. At that point, generals will seek to declare an end to the war. They will then approach Prime Minister Netanyahu, demanding clarification of the “strategic vision,” according to the newspaper, presenting him with a specific recommendation to cease the current form of war in Gaza.
The army leaders will propose reducing the number of troops operating in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border and also in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, focusing instead on targeted airstrikes against additional Hamas targets. These moves aim to include attempts to resume negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Friday that the Israeli army intensified its bombardment of Rafah and other areas across Gaza, indicating Israel’s apparent effort to portray its control over the city located on the southern edge of the Strip, which has been the focus of Israeli military operations since early May.
The Israeli army launched fire from aircraft, tanks, and ships off the coast, causing a new wave of displacement from the city that housed over a million displaced people, most of whom were forced to flee once again.
Some residents told Reuters that the pace of the Israeli military operation had accelerated in the past two days, with explosions and gunfire indicating nearly continuous intense fighting.
What does Netanyahu want?
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ultimate goal remains “survival,” according to Haaretz’s analysis, even though the war on Gaza is now closer to “an endless war without achieving complete victory.” Netanyahu understands the army’s perspective but does not lean towards it, continuing to declare that the war will continue no matter how long it takes, promising complete victory to his supporters despite deep internal divisions and widespread disbelief in those slogans.
Netanyahu wants to get through the summer session of the Knesset and wait, hoping for Donald Trump to be re-elected President of the United States in November. He sees this as better than the alternative of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza through reaching a prisoner exchange deal with Palestinian resistance factions, acknowledging actual failure in achieving combat objectives, and the likely resignation of extremist right-wing parties from the coalition and the collapse of the government.
As political survival is Netanyahu’s highest priority, other potential effects of engaging in an endless war in Gaza become insignificant to the Prime Minister. Haaretz’s analysis includes these effects in increasing the burden on regular and reserve army forces, exacerbating the crisis with the Biden administration, and eroding Israel’s international legitimacy.
The United Nations had included the Israeli army in its blacklist of organizations and armies “killing children,” and the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant. Moreover, the State of Occupation is facing charges of committing “genocide” against Palestinians before the International Court of Justice, witnessing an unprecedented Western public opinion shift from viewing Israel as a “democratic state” to a regime of apartheid and occupation violating Palestinian rights.
