The number of people killed in Gaza in the Israeli-Hamas war reached a new milestone over the weekend. According to data released by Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday, more than 50,000 people have now died, including 15,613 children.
About 700 Palestinians have lost their lives since last Tuesday, when Israel started a deadly airstrikes in Gaza last week. Both Israel and America have blamed Hamas for the new aggressive, which had to be largely into a delicate ceasefire since being implemented in January.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the army was asked to take action against the “terrorist” group, followed by “refusal to release our hostages” along with rejection of American proposals. But many question Netanyahu’s true intentions.
The first phase of the ceasefire ended on 1 March. In the second phase, Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages – 35 of them were considered dead – in turn for more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli return.
But Israel never started negotiations for the second phase. American envoy Steve Witchoff carried forward his new “bridging proposal”, which would have ended the first phase. He proposed that more hostage would return home in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. But, significantly, the permanent end of the war will delay interactions. This was not acceptable to Hamas, and the Israel went out of the ceasefire agreement.
New Israeli aggressive
Has Netanyahu’s government resumed its bombing campaign because Hamas has refused to free the remaining hostages, or is it due to issues he is facing at home? Is this step an attempt to implement a long-held agenda of far-fetched in Israel, which also implements President Trump’s plan to sustain Gaza, to establish Israeli settlements, or even Palestinians to get out of the area and make it a “Rivera of the Middle East”?
Last Friday, Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katj, said that he had directed the army to confiscate the additional areas of the Gaza Strip, while in those areas to pressurize Hamas, issuing order for the Palestinian citizens. “If Hamas terrorist organizations continue to refuse to release the hostages, I directed the IDF to expand the security sector around Gaza for catching additional areas, evacuate the population, and the Israeli communities and IDF soldiers, through a permanent grip of the area by Israel … until Hamas continued its hatred, it will connect a lot of land.
If someone sees Katz’s statement with the report in the Israeli media, the Netanyahu government’s plan for Gaza emerges. Israel media reports stated that the military chief, Ile Zameer, is preparing a full -scale land to restore military control in Gaza. “It seems that Israel is currently making a smokscreen around the true intentions of the government and military. In the conversation, preparations are underway for a large -scale operation to capture Gaza and restore full Israeli control,” preparations are underway in the hertzpepper at the commentator Amos Heartel. “This will occur when far-flung groups will be pushed for the return of settlements in the government and the forced expulsion of Palestinians, which will be presented as ‘voluntary migration’ with support from Donald Trump,” he says.
Will Israeli settlements return?
Of course, Israel would like to implement a distant reported report. They have been demanding for months that Israeli settlements returned to Gaza (Israel had settlements in Gaza by 2005, which were removed after the government decided to pull back).
Until some time ago, most analysts and commentators in Israel thought Gaza was re -introduced. but not anymore. In October, two senior far-flung cabinet ministers, six MPs of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and several local leaders of his party across Israel attended a supporting-Nipatan rally, where demands were raised to build Israeli settlements in Gaza.
But there is no evidence that most of the people of Israel are ready for such a plan, or even for permanent occupation of Gaza. In any case, they are unlikely to make them more secure. Ghazan is not ready to leave the region even after his unprecedented difficulties since Hamas-Israel War.
Palestinians cannot forget the “Nakba” of 1948, in which, after the establishment of the state of Israel, about half of the citizens living in Palestine were forced to leave their homes and were never allowed to return. Many settled in Gaza.
Increasing protest against plan
As part of his plan, Trump suggested that Arab countries – Right and Jordan, especially – remove the displaced population, while the United States will “” the seaside region “. Arab and even US colleagues condemned the plan, condemned by global human rights groups as ‘ethnic cleaning’.
In Israel, thousands of people in Israel have been protesting against Netanyahu since last week. The protesters and their other critics have accused them of reducing democracy and resuming the war, which resumes the war to divert attention from the political and legal problems faced by them, thus endangering the fate of the remaining hostages.
The immediate trigger Netanyahu’s internal security agency of Netanyahu was to dismiss Ronan Bar, the head of Shin Bet (although it was later held by a court while the judges investigated the evidence). The resumption of military action in Gaza further enhanced his anger. Netanyahu accused of failing to stop Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, resulting in 1,200 Israeli deaths and more than 250 other Israelis abducted, causing the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
This was the worst attack in the history of Israel, expressing displeasure not only in the country but around the world. Ironically, Netanyahu himself has not taken any responsibility for the terrible terrorist attack, which was under his watch.
Netanyahu’s trouble
Any Israeli Prime Minister never fired the head of a security agency during the war before Netanyahu. His critics argue that the real reason behind the move seems to be investigated by Shin Bet against the officials close to Netanyahu.
The agency is investigating a spokesperson, who was reportedly leaked in a German news outlet classified documents that appeared to give a political cover to the Prime Minister in the ceasefire talks. Shin Bet is also focusing on claims that Qatar had allegedly hired Netanyahu colleagues to launch a public relations campaign in Israel. Qatar sent millions of dollars in cash with Netanyahu’s approval. The perception is that this money reached Hamas.
Critics of Netanyahu also point to their efforts to sack their Attorney General, Galley Bahrav-Maira, who said that Israeli PM needs to clarify the legal basis for his decision to remove the bar, saying that “Shin stroke does not have the role of Shin Sad to serve the Prime Minister’s personal trust”.
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet voted in favor of a no-confidence motion against Galli Bahrav-Miyara, in a step, which was designed to dismiss him. In response, it said that the government was demanding to keep itself on top of the law and work without check and balance.
The protesters are also concerned about judicial reforms that will present more political appointments in committees selecting judges. Netanyahu is already undergoing a corruption test, for which he is appearing in court. He faces allegations related to fraud, bribery and violation of faith, although he alleges that he is politically motivated and fabricated by his opponents.
Trump’s playbook
Taking out a leaf from Trump’s book, a defense Netanyahu says that ‘Left Deep State’ hatched a conspiracy against him, as Trump was being targeted in the United States. “In the US and in Israel, when a strong writing leader wins an election, the Left Deep State armed the justice system to thwart people’s will. They will not win at any place!” He said in a post on X last week.
But public opinion surveys show that Netanyahu is now deeply unpopular in his country and if it happens now, the election can be lost. Thus it depends on far-flung partners for his government to survive now. This can be a reason to try to make them happy about the Gaza policy.
Left in Lurch
Israel’s brutal military reaction to the 7 October attacks by Hamas has resulted in disastrous consequences not only for the terrorist group but also for the general population of Gaza. Hamas and his colleague’s leader, Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah, has been killed.
Other enemies of Israel, such as Yemen-based Hauthis and its sponsors, are now very weak. The change of governance in Syria has also given the country a strategic benefit. Therefore, parties supporting Hamas have either gone or can hardly threaten Israel.
With Trump at the White House, Netanyahu did not find a better colleague in the US. Unlike his desperate efforts for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Trump is not eager to end fighting in Gaza. Although he pressurized Netanyahu to agree on the ceasefire deal with Hamas in January, his support for the newly involved is that he can still expect his Gaza Riviera scheme to succeed, even if it can mean for the citizens of Gaza.
Unfortunately, the Palestinians in Gaza do not have powerful backers, such as European governments who have vowed to help the Ukrainian people, even if the US leaves them. Even Arab governments including Saudi Arabia, Ukraine ceasefire talks and hosting the most powerful Arab nation, have not provided such support to Palestinians.
(Naresh Kaushik is former Editor of Associated Press and BBC News and is located in London)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
