GAZA (Dispatches) – Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prolonged the Gaza genocide to stay in power and avoid potential criminal prosecution, an investigation by The New York Times reveals.
In a report, The New York Times concluded that after Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Zionist entity in response to the regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting against Palestinians in October 2023, many believed it would mark the end of Netanyahu’s political career.
The widespread assumption, according to the report, was that the war would wind down by early 2024, his coalition cabinet would fall apart, and he would finally face consequences for the catastrophic security failure.
Instead, Netanyahu harnessed the war to improve his political fortunes, at first simply to survive and then to triumph on his own terms.
In April 2024, Netanyahu was reportedly on the verge of approving a six-week ceasefire deal that could have secured the release of over 30 captives held by Hamas. This agreement also would have opened the door to discussions about a lasting peace agreement with Hamas.
However, Netanyahu suddenly shifted his stance after finance minister Bezalel Smotrich—a far-right hardliner advocating for the establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza and the occupation of Gaza—threatened to withdraw from the coalition cabinet if a ceasefire deal was approved.
Such a move would collapse the coalition and force new elections, which polls at the time suggested Netanyahu would lose.
According to another report, Israel’s refusal to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip has hampered indirect ceasefire negotiations between the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and the Zionist Regime.
Delegations from both sides began discussions in Qatar last Sunday to try to agree on a temporary halt to the Zionist regime’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has been going on since October 7, 2023.
Both Hamas and Israel have announced that 10 living captives, taken during Hamas-led Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, would be released if an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire were reached.
But one well-informed Palestinian source told AFP on Saturday that the occupying regime’s refusal to withdraw all of its troops from Gaza is holding back progress on securing an agreement.
“The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel’s insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal,” the source was quoted as saying.
Hamas has said it wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, which is home to more than 2.3 million Palestinians.