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SvennoJ on 16 June 2024
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Israel’s war on Gaza tied to ‘survival’ of Netanyahu government

HA Hellyer, a military analyst and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington, DC, says Israel is failing to achieve its goals in Gaza but is continuing with the war for “the survival of the Netanyahu government”.

“The Israelis have put a pretty high bar for what they call victory in Gaza since the beginning of this bombardment of the Strip that began in October, and I don’t think that they are really going to get any closer to victory,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera.

“The way in which they define victory is complete removal of the governance and military capacity of Hamas. And, as we have just seen, the military capacity of Hamas is far from being removed,” Hellyer said.

“It has been degraded significantly, substantially even. But, the idea that you can completely remove that military capacity – while at the same time continuing this sort of bombardment where people are going to be very easily recruited into operations resisting the Israelis – I think is really short-sighted,” he said.

“I think this is a political decision by the Netanyahu government that realises that they really don’t have much of an endgame when it comes to this particular ‘operation’ in Gaza. Except to just keep on going in order to maintain the survival of the Netanyahu government,” he added.


Israel has no ‘exit strategy’ from war

Israel’s recent military losses and refusal to seriously engage in talks show it lacks an “end game” to the war, says Hassan Barari, a professor of international relations at Qatar University.

“They [the Israeli military] occupied half of [Rafah] and the Palestinians are still resisting and killing more and more Israeli soldiers,” Barari told Al Jazeera. “It seems that Israel is bogged down in this war with no exit strategy and people are fed up with that. That’s why thousands of people are taking to the streets calling for not only ending the war but also for Netanyahu to step down,” he said.

How the war plays out in the coming weeks will largely hinge on battlefield developments and how much pressure the US exerts on Israel to negotiate a ceasefire deal with Hamas, said Barari, noting that there are still major gaps between the two sides.


Haniyeh says Hamas’s ceasefire response aligns with deal’s principles

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group’s position is consistent with the foundational principles of the UN-backed ceasefire proposal.

Haniyeh, speaking in a televised address on Eid day, also said Hamas is ready to accept an agreement that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction, and an exchange deal.

Palestinians would continue to show resilience, resistance, and commitment to their national struggle, he added in comments after US Secretary of State Blinken criticised Hamas last week for its reply to the ceasefire proposal.

Israel’s government has yet to publicly back the deal, despite US claims that it has accepted it. Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has continued to insist that the war will not end before Hamas is defeated.