Alwaght- While the people of Gaza suffer under a man-made famine imposed by the Israeli regime, with individuals being killed daily in food lines by Israeli bombardments and direct fire from occupation forces, it is Netanyahu who, ignoring international pleas and global protests, continues to tighten his stranglehold on Gaza's civilians.
Netanyahu has recently gone even further, announcing the start of a ground operation to seize full control of Gaza. The exponentially rising casualties are a clear sign this plan is now underway.
Amidst this, the latest from the negotiation table indicates that Hamas has agreed to a 60-day ceasefire deal in return for the release of a number of living Israeli prisoners. However, Tel Aviv is refusing to accept it.
To discuss the behind-the-scenes aims of Netanyahu behind the new round of a comprehensive operation in Gaza, Alwaght has talked to Sayyed Hadi Afghahi, an international affairs expert.
Asked about Hamas's proposal for 60-day truce and the Israeli rejection, Afghahi said that Netanyahu's overarching policy is not to make Hamas any concessions. Netanyahu announced his objectives previously. After the Operation Al-Aqsa Storm oon October 7, 2023, he declared that Hamas must be disarmed, the prisoners released, Gaza must come under the complete control of the Israeli regime, and the people of Gaza must be relocated. Well, up until now, we have seen that these objectives have not been successful or achieved.
He added that, therefore, any proposal from the US, France, the UN, or the Security Council for a ceasefire—even for a short period, be it 30 days—is accepted by Hamas, but Netanyahu refuses it. This matter has several reasons.
The first reason is that he is dead set on achieving those original goals. Second, there are several ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet—hardliners, both religious and secular, like Ben-Gvir who is the National Security Minister of the regime. These figures, including the finance minister and the heritage minister, are constantly threatening Netanyahu. They warn that if he accepts any ceasefire or deal with Hamas, they will walk out of the coalition cabinet. If they resign, his coalition government collapses and Israel will be forced into an early election.
Third, and unfortunately, Trump's return to the White House has given Netanyahu a leeway for any and all atrocities. It is like his hands are completely untied. Every act of brutality Netanyahu commits in Gaza—from the bombings to the engineered famine—is justified by Trump's stance that Israel is just defending itself and that Gazans should simply leave their own lands.
Because of all this, Netanyahu seems to believe he is on some kind of divine mission; he has even said publicly that he is fulfilling a historic, spiritual duty at a crucial moment. This is why he has rejected every single ceasefire proposal, whether it is from the US, Qatar, or Egypt. He constantly moves the goalposts and scuttles the talks at every turn. The bottom line is that he is convinced any concession he makes will mark the end of his political career.
Commenting on the pressures of the public opinion and families of prisoners on Netanyahu for a ceasefire deal, Mr Afghahi said that Netanyahu couches this issue in a religious pretext: the Hannibal Directive. This doctrine essentially holds that if Israeli soldiers are captured, they should be killed rather than allow Israel to be forced into making concessions to enemy. We are witnessing this in action—he is ignoring the desperate pleas of the Israeli hostages' families and the families of the fallen, even as they protest together in the streets. He turns a deaf ear to them because he does not truly believe in securing freedom of prisoners.
Mr Afghahi further held that Netanyahu is convinced he is on a divine mission and that no one should interfere. He consistently lies to them and, to date, has not secured the release of a single hostage—except during the initial swap for Palestinian prisoners. He believes these protests are futile and has no intention of making any concessions to Hamas.
Therefore, as long as no international court, legal body, or war crimes tribunal can pose a real threat to him, and because he sees the US as a staunch supporter of his policies, he will continue his atrocities in Gaza. He does this to maintain his own political standing and to pursue what he calls his divine mission, according to the political expert.
In another part of his comments on Netanyahu's plan to fully occupy Gaza and US's complicity in Israel's warmongering policies, Mr Afghahi maintained that since Trump assumed the power once again, he has supplied the Israeli regime with prohibited bombs that had been withheld during the Biden administration. In F-35 fighter jets, American pilots have joined forces with Israelis to attack Iran. Trump is a major backer of the Israelis because he knows his own political survival is contingent on supporting the child-killing Israeli regime. He knows that if he shows the slightest divergence from Netanyahu, he will face immense pressure from the Congress. Zionist lobbies have deeply infiltrated all American decision-making and policy-making centers, especially the Congress.
Even Trump himself has repeatedly stated that if they succeed in expelling the Gazans, they will turn the costal Palestinian enclave into an investment paradise and a tourist hub, given its prime geographical location on the coast. So, Gaza holds several advantages. In this scenario, Israel's security would be guaranteed, Hamas would be disarmed, the people of Gaza would be forced out, and, because of these benefits, Trump is also complicit in the crimes Netanyahu is committing.
At the end, commenting on the future of the Gaza Strip, Mr Afghahi said that he believes that Netanyahu is fooling the mediators and will certainly not give Hamas a respite. The Israeli PM is afraid that if fire is ceased for 60 days, aid will enter Gaza and Hamas will build its powers amd meanwhile arms could enter Gaza and threaten Israeli security. So, Israeli government with meager aids that do not help improve the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza releases itself from public opinion pressures, while Gaza still suffers from hunger disaster.
