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‘Netanyahu hell-bent on depopulating Gaza’
Israeli captives in Gaza “do not really figure very prominently” in Netanyahu’s war calculations because his primary goal is to defeat Hamas, an analyst says.
Mohamad Elmasry from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies said there’s been “a disconnect” between the Israeli army and the political establishment over the war in Gaza.
“It seems that Netanyahu’s getting what he wants,” the analyst said, referring to the military’s order to call up tens of thousands of reservists to expand the war on Gaza. “One thought is the military agreed to this because this is a sort of final operation to try and get rid of Hamas once and for all.”
There is a lot of “discontent and fatigue” in the Israeli military and society, he added, noting Israel’s media have reported thousands of reservists have refused to report. “Netanyahu is basically hell-bent on not just eliminating Hamas but also to depopulate Gaza as part of the ‘Greater Israel’ project,” Elmasry said.
Israel military chief warns Gaza war escalation may ‘lose’ captives
Eyal Zamir has warned Israeli leaders that captives in Gaza could be “lost” as it calls up tens of thousands of reinforcements to expand and intensify the war, a news report says.
“In a plan for a full-scale manoeuvre, we won’t necessarily reach the hostages,” the Channel 13 news network quoted Zamir as saying. “Keep in mind that we could lose them.”
The war’s two main goals of defeating Hamas and rescuing the captives “are problematic in relation to each other”, the report also cited him as saying.
Israeli drones open fire on rescuers after Gaza City attack
In the latest attack, Israel’s military targeted a home in an eastern neighbourhood of Gaza City. At least one Palestinian was killed and 25 others are trapped in the debris. Palestinian Civil Defence teams and paramedics are unable to reach the areas to rescue them. They said they tried to reach the house, but Israeli quadcopters fired live ammunition at them, so they were forced to go back.
This sort of story is not new. Palestinians are trapped under the rubble after Israeli bombardment and nobody is able to reach them and they suffocate and die.
