Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to reoccupy the Gaza Strip as a “strategic trap”. Speaking on Wednesday, he stressed that it will exhaust the army for years to come and endanger the lives of prisoners.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that a heated discussion took place between Zamir and Netanyahu in a meeting, Tuesday evening, which it described as “difficult and direct,” in light of the latter’s decision to proceed with the occupation of Gaza.
Zamir described the decision as a “strategic trap,” stressing it will exhaust the Israeli army for years later and endanger the lives of the Israeli prisoners in Gaza who are believed to be down to 20.
On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu held a closed-door meeting that lasted three hours, including a limited number of ministers and senior security officials, during which he discussed the plan to encircle Gaza City and the central military bases as the first stage of the occupation of the Strip, according to what the Broadcasting Authority quoted from an unnamed Israeli official.
Channel 13 reported that Zamir “proposed an alternative to the occupation operation, which is to isolate the Gaza Strip and impose a tight siege on Gaza City, along with airstrikes on Hamas positions. However, Netanyahu rejected the proposal and insisted on proceeding with the plan to occupy the Strip.”
Senior military officials, who were not named, quoted Zamir as hinting during the meeting at a threat to resign, saying: “I only have one bullet in my mouth.”
The security cabinet is scheduled to meet tomorrow, Thursday, to discuss the plan to occupy Gaza City and the central Gaza Strip, which Chief of Staff Zamir opposes.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu’s son, Yair, launched a sharp attack on Zamir, accusing him of “leading a rebellion and a military coup.”
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced his support for Zamir in the face of criticism from Netanyahu’s son, Yair.
Katz said in a post on the X platform that “Major General Zamir is leading the army and adopting a strong and aggressive policy.”
He continued: “It is the right and duty of the Chief of Staff to express his position, and after the political leadership makes decisions, the army will implement them firmly.”
Israel previously occupied the Gaza Strip for 38 years, between 1967 and 2005.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 50 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive, while more than 10,800 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
On July 24, Israel withdrew from indirect negotiations with Hamas in Doha, following Tel Aviv’s intransigence regarding the withdrawal from Gaza, the end of the war, Palestinian prisoners, and the mechanism for distributing humanitarian aid.
According to a poll published Sunday by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, 52 percent of Israelis hold their government fully or partially responsible for the failure to reach an agreement with Hamas.
Hamas has repeatedly declared its willingness to release Israeli prisoners “in one go” in exchange for an end to the war of extermination, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The opposition and the prisoners’ families assert that Netanyahu is seeking partial deals that would allow the continuation of the war while ensuring his continued rule. He fears the collapse of his government if the most extremist faction, which refuses to end the war, withdraws from it.
Domestically, Netanyahu is being tried on corruption charges that would result in his imprisonment if convicted. The International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and starving Palestinians. On March 2, it tightened its measures by closing the crossings to humanitarian, relief, and medical aid, causing a famine that has reached “catastrophic” levels.
The US-backed genocide left more than 211,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many according to Anadolu.
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