1/16/2024–|Last updated: 1/16/202411:49 PM (Mecca time)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the return of residents to towns and settlements around the Gaza Strip is not possible before achieving what he called victory over the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in conjunction with criticism from Israeli ministers of the withdrawal of forces from the Gaza Strip.
This came during Netanyahu’s meeting with the heads of the municipal councils of the towns surrounding the Gaza Strip, in the presence of members of the war council, to discuss the issue of residents returning to their homes.
In this context, the Financial Times newspaper published that Netanyahu faces strong opposition because of his strategy towards Israeli prisoners held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The British newspaper indicated that opposition leaders, some members of the war council, and many Israelis are calling on Netanyahu to rethink the war on Hamas.
For his part, Gideon Saar – the minister in the security mini-ministerial council from the State Camp party led by Benny Gantz – said that Israel is still far from undermining the Hamas movement, and that withdrawing forces from Gaza in light of the continuing war was a wrong decision.
He added – in a statement carried by Israeli Army Radio – that if there is someone who believes that an alternative authority to Hamas will arise in the Gaza Strip while it is standing on its feet – as he put it – then that will not happen.
Reoccupation of Gaza
As for the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, he sharply criticized the decision to withdraw the army from the northern Gaza Strip, and called for the occupation of the Strip.
The leader of the far-right Jewish Power party said – in a post on the X platform – “The cabinet (mini-ministerial council) makes wrong decisions over and over again, which leads to damage.”
Ben Gvir added, “The decision to withdraw the Israeli army from Hamas centers in the Gaza Strip is a grave and dangerous mistake that will cost human lives.”
He continued, “The barrage of rockets that were fired this morning at Netivot from an area that Israeli army forces left only yesterday proves once again that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is necessary to achieve combat objectives.”
Ben Gvir considered that the continuation of the war and the overreach of the political and security government through the small government (the War Ministerial Council) was “unacceptable to the Jewish power,” as he put it.
“Erasing” neighborhoods in Gaza
On the other hand, the mayor of Sderot (southern Israel), Alon Davidi, called for wiping out the neighborhoods from which rockets are launched in the Gaza Strip towards the settlements.
“The entire area must be an extermination zone, and we must work systematically,” Davidi said. He continued, “If they launch rockets from a certain area, the entire neighborhood must be wiped out.”
Last Monday, the municipality of Sderot announced the launch of 9 rockets from the Gaza Strip towards the settlement located north of the western Negev, where 5 of them were intercepted, without clarifying the fate of the rest, according to Israeli Channel 7.
On Thursday, the Israeli army announced – in a statement – that since the start of the war, about 9,500 rockets, shells and attack drones have been launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
With the beginning of the war, Israel evacuated 60% of the population of Sderot in the Gaza Strip, while Davidi called on the government at the time to evacuate all residents of the city in an organized manner due to the war.
On the morning of October 7, Sderot was the scene of clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation forces, and it also witnessed the fall of dozens of rockets from the Gaza Strip.
Since that day, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, which as of Tuesday left 24,285 martyrs and 61,154 injured, and caused the displacement of more than 85%. Residents of the Strip (About 1.9 million people), according to the Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.