Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Haaretz columnist: Israel’s war on Gaza is ‘unrestrained assault’

In a column for Israeli news outlet Haaretz, Jack Khoury said the “use of the word ‘war'” for Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza was “misleading and distorted”.

“What’s happening in Gaza is not war. It’s an unbridled Israeli assault on people who are mostly uninvolved in any activity against it,” he wrote.

Khoury continued that he believed Israel’s “target bank” of Hamas infrastructure had “long run dry”. “No administration buildings or ‘terror infrastructure’ remain, and there’s no way to tell if all Hamas’ tunnels have been destroyed,” he wrote.

“Israel is attacking from the air, ground and sea densely populated civilian sites in the Gaza Strip – encampments for refugees and displaced people, shaky buildings that still serve as shelters, like hospitals and UNWRA schools,” Khoury added.

Almost 140,000 Israelis sign petitions to end the war

Nearly 140,000 Israelis have signed petitions to demand the return of captives and end the war, as pressure grows on Netanyahu following a week of letters from sections of the military, the intelligence agency and academics calling for the captives to be prioritised.

While Netanyahu threatened to dismiss soldiers who spoke out against the war last week, more active and former military personnel are joining the initiative.

According to the latest data from the movement, which is coordinated through the website Restored Israel, the majority of signatories, 127,255, are civilians, and 11,179 are military figures.

Several key former military leaders have also signed the petitions, including former Prime Minister and Chief of General Staff Ehud Barak, former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, and former military intelligence chief Amos Malka.

Netanyahu admits Hamas rejected prisoner swap because it wants war to end

Netanyahu says Hamas has rejected a ceasefire proposal to return half the captives because the Palestinian group wants a complete end to the war, a scenario the Israeli prime minister admits will mean an end to Israel’s “achievements”.

“If we capitulate to the dictates of Hamas now, all the great achievements of the war, which we achieved with the merit of our soldiers and our fallen and our heroic injured, all these achievements will disappear,” Netanyahu said in a video message in Hebrew.

His latest comments come as pressure from the public and former military and intelligence officials grows for Netanyahu to prioritise the return of the captives and end the war.


Lapid says PM spokesperson’s comments show government has given up on captives

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says comments by Netanyahu’s spokesperson that a deal to return all the captives is impossible because it would satisfy Hamas’s demands are an “admission that the Israeli government has given up on trying to return the kidnapped”.

“Netanyahu needs to clarify whether his spokesman is speaking from the heart or officially. If this is the Prime Minister’s official position, let him stand up and say the words, and if not, let him apologise on behalf of his spokesman,” Lapid wrote on X.

He added that for captives’ families, the statement “shakes their world”, adding that a deal must be made “immediately”.