On Friday, the Israeli occupation army continued its attacks on Palestinians in Gaza amid growing skepticism about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military strategy.
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In a press conference held on Thursday, Netanyahu stated that he would pursue "the war against Hamas" until "total victory" to ensure Israel's security and achieve the release of hostages. Once again, he argued that a ceasefire would only send "a message of weakness."
While the offensive against Gaza will continue in 2024, the Israeli army has demobilized its reservists, claiming that the war will enter a less intense phase.
Despite these statements, Gadi Eisenkot, the former Chief of Staff of the Army and a member of Israel's War Cabinet, openly challenged Netanyahu.
"Anyone talking about an absolute defeat of Hamas is not telling the truth. We should not tell stories. Today, the situation in Gaza is such that the war's objectives have not yet been achieved," said Eisenkot, who lost a son and a nephew in combat in December.
Currently, the Zionist army is unsuccessfully attempting to end the Palestinian resistance forces in the southern area of Gaza, in the Jan Yunis zone. Palestinian militias also remain active in the northern Gaza area, where Israel claimed to have already dismantled them.
In the face of evidence of failure, confidence in Netanyahu's strategy seems to wane as the media increasingly questions his discourse.
"Leadership must be shown in the ability to tell the truth to the people and chart a path. We must think about what comes next," Eisenkot said, criticizing Netanyahu for not offering a clear post-war plan for Gaza.
The former Chief of Staff also insisted on holding elections to form a government with genuine popular support and to set "limits" to the exponential increase in violence in the West Bank and along the border with Lebanon.
"It is necessary for the Israeli electorate to return to the polls in a few months so that the elections renew confidence... because there is none at the moment," Eisenkot said, contradicting Netanyahu, who ruled out the option of elections during the war on Gaza.
Since the conflict erupted, the Israeli occupation army's violence has left 24,620 Palestinians dead, 61,830 injured, and about 8,000 people missing under the rubble of bombed buildings.