Ex-army commander: Israel exhausted all plans in Gaza

A former Israeli army commander said yesterday that the Israeli occupation army has exhausted all operational work in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to conclude a ceasefire prisoner swap deal with Hamas.

“I do not know what we are doing in Gaza now. Except for the return of [Israeli captives in Gaza], it is not clear to me, we have exhausted everything the army can do,” General Israel Ziv, former commander of the army’s operations, told the local radio station 103 FM.

A few days ago, Netanyahu said he would not end the war on Gaza before achieving its goals, while Hamas insisted Netanyahu’s intransigence, including refusal to end the genocide and not withdrawing the army from the Strip, is obstructing any deal.

General Ziv stressed that Netanyahu does not want to conclude a deal with Hamas, saying: “Netanyahu does not want to return the kidnapped… It does not seem that Israel really wants this deal, as everything boils down to one decision, which is to stop the fighting.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli negotiating delegation returned from Qatar to hold “internal consultations,” after a week of negotiations on Gaza.

Despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza for more than 14 months, Israel has been unable to achieve any of its declared war goals.

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