Yoav Gallant reportedly says Israeli army has nothing left to do in Gaza
Yoav Gallant (right) was sacked by Benjamin Netanyahu (left) on Tuesday. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters
Israel’s ousted defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has reportedly said the army has achieved all its objectives in Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a hostages-for-peace deal against the advice of his own security establishment.
“There’s nothing left in Gaza to do. The major achievements have been achieved,” Channel 12 news quoted him as saying. “I fear we are staying there just because there is a desire to be there.”
Gallant is said to have told the families that Netanyahu was the only person who could decide on whether to make a deal involving the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons and an initially temporary ceasefire.
The Biden administration has been trying to broker such an agreement since May,.... it had been accepted by the Netanyahu government, but the Israeli prime minister made a series of comments distancing himself from its terms. US officials came to see Netanyahu as at least as big an obstacle to peace as Hamas.
The remarks are politically explosive in Israel, where the families of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza, their supporters and the Israeli opposition have all accused Netanyahu of keeping the conflict in Gaza going to put off a new election, and the risk of losing power.
From the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/07/yoav-gallant-israel-army-nothing-left-to-do-in-gaza
