ISTANBUL (Aftenposten): Time is running out for the hostages in Gaza, many fear. In Israel, criticism of the war now comes from several quarters.
General Gadi Eisenkot sits in Israel’s war cabinet and has himself lost a son in Gaza. This week he came out hard against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters/NTB
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Published: 23.01.2024 09:31
The short version
- Israel’s former chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, criticizes the country’s war in Gaza. He believes an absolute victory over Hamas is unrealistic and does not trust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The summary is created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and quality assured by Aftenposten’s journalists.
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– Those who talk about an absolute victory are not telling the truth.
This is what the Israeli general Gadi Eisenkot says about the war in Gaza.
Eisenkot is a former chief of staff in the Israeli army and is currently a member of the Israeli National Assembly. He belongs to the opposition, but a few days after the Hamas attack on October 7, he joined the government’s war cabinet.
Eisenkot is known to many as the man behind the Dahieh doctrine. It is an Israeli military strategy that states that Israel must use excessive force and cause massive damage and destruction to deter the enemy.
But in an interview with Israel’s Kanal 12 last week, Eisenkot expressed that he has changed direction.
Don’t trust the Prime Minister
A final victory over Hamas is unrealistic, Eisenkot now believes, according to Times of Israel.
– Today, the situation in the Gaza Strip is already such that the goals of the war have not yet been reached, Eisenkot said.
When asked if Israel’s leaders are telling the public the truth, Eisenkot’s answer was resoundingly clear:
– In the.
The interview was shown on television just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for elections to be held in Israel before the war is over. Netanyahu also repeated the promise of “a complete victory” over Hamas and rejected any plan for an independent Palestinian state after the war ends.
Eisenkot told Channel 12 he does not trust Netanyahu’s leadership. He was also highly critical of the fact that the Prime Minister has refused to accept part of the responsibility for the enormous military and intelligence failure on 7 October.
– Gets stuck in a quagmire
In Israel, criticism of the war in Gaza is now coming from several quarters.
It is becoming increasingly clear that Israel is about to get stuck in a quagmire in Gaza, writes Amos Harel in the left-wing newspaper Haaretz. He believes it is time for Israel to reassess its priorities.
Harel was critical of Netanyahu’s leadership long before October 7. But also in more government-friendly media, criticism is starting to come in, according to him. Even Netanyahu-friendly Kanal 14 is “beginning to suspect that this path will not lead to a quick victory.” They believe that far more time is needed to truly defeat Hamas.
Many Israelis are also dismayed that the army has not yet managed to retrieve more hostages.
In the last week, there has been a poor atmosphere in Tel Aviv. There, several hundred people have demonstrated for the government to immediately enter into an agreement with Hamas to release the hostages.
Relatives of hostages still held in Gaza blocked roads in Tel Aviv on Thursday night. They demand that the government enter into an agreement with Hamas to have the hostages released immediately. Photo: Alexandre Meneghini, Reuters/NTB
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On Monday, relatives of the Israeli hostages stormed a meeting in the national assembly, the Knesset. They held up pictures of the kidnapped and posters that read: “You should not sit here while they die.”
How is it actually going?
Netanyahu and his government have vowed to crush Hamas and their military capabilities in the Gaza Strip.
So far, the Israeli military has succeeded in laying large parts of Gaza in gravel. But Israel is still far from wiping out Hamas, American intelligence believes. The newspaper writes that Wall Street Journal.
The military claims they have killed a total of 9,000 Hamas fighters. USA the number rather means is 5000–6000.
According to Israeli media the military has uncovered hundreds of hidden launch pads around the Gaza Strip. But more than 100 days into the war, Israel has also not succeeded in overcoming the rocket attacks against Israel.
Far fewer rockets are fired now than at the beginning. But the flight alert still goes off almost daily in the cities near the border with the Gaza Strip. The Americans says Hamas still has enough ammo to keep it going for months.
During the ground operation, a number of weapons warehouses, factories and tunnel entrances have been uncovered, according to the Israeli army. But the military has also been surprised by the extent, depth and quality of the tunnel network under Gaza, writes The New York Times.
It will take several years to destroy all the tunnels, anonymous defense sources tell the newspaper. The Israeli military believes the Hamas commanders are hiding deep down in the tunnels. So far they have managed to kill three members of the leadership in Gaza.
At least 190 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and only one of the hostages taken has been rescued by Israeli forces. The others have been released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Critics believe the government must change its strategy. Photo: Maya Alleruzzo, AP/NTB
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– To sell fantasies to the people
The other major goal of Israel’s war is to bring home the more than 130 remaining hostages. The Israeli military says at least 25 of them has already been killed.
So far, the military has only succeeded in rescuing one hostage alive. Three Israeli hostages were taken by mistake shot and killed of Israeli soldiers.
At the same time, Israeli families are paying a high price for the war to continue. So far, over 190 soldiers have lost their lives.
Gadi Eisenkot has himself lost a son.
Gadi Eisenkot (with sunglasses) is comforted by family during the funeral of his son Gal (25), who was killed during the ground invasion of Gaza in December. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters/NTB
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Gal Eisenkot (25) was killed in an explosion in a tunnel in northern Gaza in December.
The general says in the interview with Kanal 12 that someone must be brave enough to say that in the short term it is not possible to get the hostages home alive without an agreement.
Something else, he says, is “selling fantasies to the people.”
2024-01-23 08:31:02
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