Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant has told US special envoy, Amos Hochstein that Israel is preparing for low intensity phase of Gaza war.
A readout from Gallant’s office, cited by Israeli media following the meeting in Washington, disclosed that Gallant stated that moving to “phase 3” in the Gaza Strip will affect all fronts.
According to Israeli war cabinet former members, phase 3 refers to the low-intensity conflict that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said would start in about two weeks.
Israel’s Defence Ministry said that Gallant, who arrived in the US capital on Sunday, June 23, 2024, also assured Hochstein of his commitment to changing the security situation in the border area with Lebanon, allowing the return of the residents to their homes in northern Israel.
The security situation has deteriorated in the area with the daily air attacks reported between Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group and the Israeli military since the eruption of the Gaza war.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said that the war will continue even if truce deal was agreed with Hamas.
Netanyahu indicated that he is open to a “partial” deal that would facilitate the return of some captives still held in Gaza, even if not all.
He reiterated, however, that he would not agree to any deal that stipulated an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, despite previous claims by the United States that an Israeli proposal would be a pathway to ending the offensive.
“The goal is to return the kidnapped and uproot the Hamas regime in Gaza,” he said in an interview with an Israeli media outlet.
Netanyahu also told the media outlet that Israel’s “intense” military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was nearly over.
“The intense phase of the fighting against Hamas is about to end,” he said.
He added, “It doesn’t mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end in Rafah.”
Following Netanyahu’s remarks, Israel’s Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi noted that Israeli military operations would change “tactically, but absolutely not strategically.”
Hamas said that Netanyahu’s remarks show that Israel is not seeking a ceasefire deal but looking to buy time to continue the “war of extermination” against Gaza.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior official from the group said in a statement, “It is now clear to the world that Netanyahu is the one rejecting and obstructing the deal proposed in the Biden speech and the latest UN Security Council resolution, not Hamas.”
“The ball is now in the court of the war criminal Netanyahu. The US administration must lift the cover of silence and bias and pressure Netanyahu and his government to end the aggression.”
Izzat al-Rishq
Netanyahu’s Statement Called “Slip Of Tongue”
However, Gadi Eisenkot, ex-Israeli army chief and former war cabinet observer, opined that Netanyahu’s words “may have been a slip of the tongue.”
“It requires immediate clarification to the families of the abductees and soldiers who are now fighting to return them,” Eisenkot, who left the government two weeks ago, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“As someone who sat in the cabinet, there were only two options: A full deal all at once, or a comprehensive deal in three stages. The cabinet voted unanimously on this, and therefore Netanyahu’s statement about a ‘partial deal’ is contrary to the war cabinet’s decisions.”
Gadi Eisenkot
The committee’s Chairman, Yuli Edelstein, gave a similar reaction, saying at the same meeting that he did not know “the basis of Netanyahu’s words about a partial deal to return the abductees, which contradicts the decision of the war cabinet.”
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