There appaears to be a growing split in Israel over support for a continual pursuit of Hamas, which maybe never-ending….
Or?
A conflict settlement to get the remaining hostages alive back?
Also?
If they can’t erase Hamas?
What would be a Israeli occupation entail, cost and play out for Israel internationally?
RightWing Israeli’s actually want to export Palestinians and claim ALL of Gaza and the West Bank as the Israeli state….
-
The Israeli war cabinet has ordered its negotiators to “continue talks to bring home the hostages” held in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Thursday morning. Mr. Netanyahu has come under increasing public pressure to reach a cease-fire agreement to secure the hostages’ release. But talks with Hamas have been stalled for weeks, and prospects for a deal seem even more remote in the shadow of Israel’s ongoing military operation in Rafah.
-
The death toll rose to 12 in an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said on Thursday. Dozens of others have been injured since the Israeli military entered the city on Tuesday morning, the ministry said, in one of the deadliest in a series of raids in the West Bank that Israeli officials have described as counterterrorism operations. Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin early Thursday, according to residents.
-
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin repeated U.S. criticism of a request by the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for war crimes. Speaking on Wednesday with Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, Mr. Austin called the prosecutor’s move “outrageous,” according to a Pentagon statement. The prosecutor, Karim Khan, said this weekthat he was applying for warrants for Mr. Gallant and Mr. Netanyahu, as well as for three leaders of Hamas, in connection with the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
-
All of the European Union countries that had halted funding to the main U.N. agency that aids Palestinians, UNRWA, have now resumed payments, said Josep Borrell Fontelles, the E.U.’s top diplomat. Some of the agency’s main donors suspended payments after Israel said in January that at least 12 UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attack and that as many 1,300 of its employees were members of Hamas. An independent review said in April that Israel had not provided evidence to support its accusations.
-
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned Israel on Thursday against cutting off ties between Palestinian and Israeli banks, arguing that such a move would further destabilize the economy of the West Bank at a time when Palestinians are already facing dire economic conditions. Ms. Yellen’s comments came in the wake of Israel’s decision on Wednesday to withhold tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for three European countries unilaterally agreeing to recognize a Palestinian state. Ms. Yellen and other top economic officials from the Group of 7 nations are expected to discuss the matter and the humanitarian situation in Gaza during their summit in Stresa, Italy, which begins on Thursday….
Diminished but not deterred, Hamas is still putting up a fight after seven brutal months of war with Israel, regrouping in some of the hardest-hit areas in northern Gaza and resuming rocket attacks into nearby Israeli communities.
Israel initially made tactical advances against Hamas after a devastating aerial bombardment paved the way for its ground troops. But those early gains have given way to a grinding struggle against an adaptable insurgency — and a growing feeling among many Israelis that their military faces only bad options, drawing comparisons with U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This was the subtext of a rebellion in recent days by two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s three-man War Cabinet — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival — who demanded that he come up with detailed postwar plans.
…
Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and former deputy commander of the Gaza division, says that’s only the beginning. He said Israel would need to remain in control to prevent Hamas from regrouping.
“If you don’t drain the swamp, you cannot deal with the mosquitoes. And drain the swamp means a complete change in the education system, and dealing with local leadership and not with a terror organization,” he said. “This is a generational process. It’s not going to happen in a day.”
Far-right members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, who hold the key to his remaining in power, have called for permanent occupation, “voluntary emigration” of large numbers of Palestinians to anywhere that will have them, and rebuilding of Jewish settlements in Gaza.
Most Israelis are opposed, pointing to the immense costs of stationing thousands of troops in the territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians. As an occupying power, Israel would likely be held responsible for providing health, education and other services. It’s unclear to what extent international donors would step in to fund reconstruction amid ongoing hostilities….