Jerusalem (Reuters)-Benjamin Netanyahu will gather his security office this week to decide about Israel’s next steps in Gaza after the collapse of indirect ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, and a senior Israeli source suggests that the use of more force may be an option.
Last Saturday, during a visit to the country, the US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said he was working with the Israeli government in a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
But Israeli authorities also presented ideas that include the expansion of the military offensive in Gaza and the annexation of destroyed enclave areas.
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The ceasefire negotiations that failed in Doha were aimed at closing agreements around a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which humanitarian aid would be taken to Gaza and half of the Hamas hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinians arrested in Israel.
Following a Netanyahu meeting with Witkoff last Thursday, he said an Israeli senior authority, “an understanding was emerging between Washington and Israel” about the need to change a truce to a comprehensive agreement that would “release all hostages, disarm Hamas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip”-Israel’s main conditions to end the war.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday that the visit of the envoy was viewed by Israel as “very significant.”
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However, later on Sunday, the Israeli authority signaled that the search for an agreement would be useless:
“An understanding is emerging that Hamas is not interested in an agreement, and therefore the Prime Minister is pressuring to free the hostages while pressuring a military defeat.”
“Strategic clarity”
What a “military defeat” may mean, however, is under discussion within Israeli leadership. Some Israeli authorities suggested that Israel could declare the annexation of Gaza areas as a way to press the militant group.
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Others, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir want Israel to impose a military regime in Gaza before annexing it and restoring the Jewish settlements taken by Israel for 20 years.
The Israeli army, who refused such ideas during the war, is expected to present alternatives on Tuesday that include expansion to Gaza areas where they do not operate, two defense officials said.
Although some political leaders are pushing the expansion of the offensive, the military are concerned that this endanger the 20 hostages that are still alive, the authorities explained.
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Israel’s army radio reported on Monday that military chief Eyal Zamir is increasingly frustrated by what he describes as a lack of strategic clarity by political leadership, concerned with being dragged into a wear and tear with Hamas militants.
A spokesman for Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) refused to comment, but said the military has plans in mind.
“We have different ways to combat the terrorist organization, and that’s what the army does,” said the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani.
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On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt endorsed a statement from France and Saudi Arabia outlined the steps to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, which included Hamas appeal to hand over their weapons to the West-backed Palestinian authority.
Hamas has repeatedly said that he will not deliver weapons. But he told the mediators to be willing to leave governance in Gaza in favor of a non -party government, according to three Hamas authorities.
The Islamic militant group insists that a postwar arrangement in Gaza should be agreed among the Palestinians themselves and not dictated by foreign powers.
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Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Saar suggested on Monday that gaps are still too large to overcome.
“We would like to have all our hostages back. We would like to see the end of this war. We always prefer to get there by diplomatic means, if possible. But, of course, the big question is: What will be the conditions for the end of the war?” He told journalists in Jerusalem.
(Additional report by Nidal Al-Monghrabi in Cairo and Emily Rose in Tel Aviv)
