Israeli army chief says war to continue until ‘decisive defeat of Hamas’
Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of the general staff, says the army is “making adjustments and establishing new mandatory service and reserve service formations” as it continues to wage war on the Gaza Strip.
“We must continue operating toward the decisive defeat of Hamas,” he told Israeli troops during a visit to northern Gaza.
“The State of Israel cannot rely on a minimal force size – it requires wide security margins. In addition, increasing the number of mandatory and reserve troops will ease the burden on reservists,” Zamir said.
His comments come as the Israeli government has come under increased pressure to end the war in order to secure the release of captives held in Gaza. Recent Israeli media reports also have detailed growing exhaustion and frustrations among soldiers amid the ongoing offensive.
But Zamir said, “The campaign is not yet over.”
“We must continue working to bring all our hostages home and to defeat the enemy. We will operate to end the campaign and transition to new combat configurations that will allow us to achieve our objectives while reducing the burden on the troops,” he said.
Eyal Zamir visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City in March
And what is a decisive defeat? When the last person has either died or left Gaza?
Israeli lawmaker accuses Netanyahu of making ‘no real effort’ to bring captives home
Vladimir Beliak, a member of Knesset with Israel’s centrist Yesh Atid party, has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting his own political future ahead of the fate of Israeli captives.
“We do not see any real efforts from the prime minister to rescue the hostages,” Beliak told Israeli public radio, accusing Netanyahu of exploiting the crisis to keep his government in power.
“I do not recall any Israeli citizen voting for Hamas during the elections, but they voted for this government, and it is the government’s responsibility to bring them back home,” Beliak added.
Israel’s foreign ministry claims GHF ‘dramatic success’ despite dozens of deaths
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has described the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid system, which has been plagued by deadly violence and slammed by aid groups as deeply inadequate, as a “dramatic success”.
Speaking in a video shared by the Foreign Ministry, Director General Eden Bar-Tal said the new model has been successful because it gets aid to Gaza’s civilians while “bypassing” Hamas.
He claimed “happy faces” in the enclave proved the aid process is going well, ignoring reports that at least 130 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded by Israeli fire while waiting in chaotic crowds for meagre rations.
Bar-Tal also accused the UN of “aligning with Hamas” by urging Israel to return to the previous aid distribution network that proved far more effective in widely distributing aid.
Chaotic scenes at an aid distribution centre near Rafah, June 11
Look at all those happy faces....
The US will echo the Israeli propaganda like a good lap dog while distracting the population with ICE escalations.
