Netanyahus revenge against Hamas A desperate bid to save face
Netanyahu’s revenge against Hamas: A desperate bid to save face
TEHRAN- Israel is making desperate attempts to put on a brave face in the wake of the repercussions of its failed military strategy in the Gaza Strip.
Israel was compelled to reach a ceasefire with Hamas in January due to its inability to accomplish military objectives after more than 15 months of war in Gaza.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the truce agreement vowing revenge against the resistance movement.
Netanyahu issued the threat following a statement from his military, which indicated that one of the four bodies transferred from Gaza to Israel on Thursday did not contain a captive.
Hamas said the remains of Shiri Bibas seemed to have been mixed with other human remains as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the location where she was being held. The resistance group added that the captives were killed in Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes on Gaza that began in October 2023.
Netanyahu’s rhetoric followed his order to the Israeli army to conduct an “intense operation” against resistance fighters in the occupied West Bank. This came after bombs detonated on three empty buses in a central Israel parking depot in Bat Yam, outside Tel Aviv. The regime blamed the incident on armed groups.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also called for an immediate return to fighting in Gaza and the West Bank.
Since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19, Hamas has freed 25 captives held in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails.
The Israeli officials’ threats arise in the context of increasing public outrage regarding the return of the four captives in coffins. The public backlash compelled Netanyahu, known as Bibi, to cancel his plans to attend the reception of the bodies that were returned by Hamas.
The Israeli opposition has held Netanyahu responsible for the fatalities, contending that he delayed a prisoner exchange for several months to protect his tenuous coalition.
People in Israel have also repeatedly blamed Netanyahu for abandoning captives to serve his own political interests.
More than 1,100 people were killed and about 250 others were taken captive when Hamas carried out a surprise military operation in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. It was followed by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza which claimed the lives of nearly 62,000 Palestinians.
Despite its carnage in Gaza, Israel was unable to defeat Hamas.
The threats made by Netanyahu, Smotrich and alike are in line with Israel’s efforts to obscure the regime’s setbacks in the war on Gaza.
source: tehrantimes.com