[News] Netanyahu ditches captives to 'hunt down' Hamas leaders

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Netanyahu ditches captives to 'hunt down' Hamas leaders: Report

As part of the scheme, Tel Aviv is preparing to establish a 'long-term'
military presence in Gaza with 'partial approval' from the US

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

MAY 8, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-ditches-captives-to-hunt-down-hamas-leaders-report
(Photo Credit: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via AFP)

The Israeli government has “abandoned its goals” of recovering dozens of
captives who remain inside Gaza to instead “pursue top Palestinian
leaders,” Israeli military officials revealed to *Middle East Eye*
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-abandoned-freeing-captives-military-officers#:~:text=Israel%20has%20abandoned%20its%20goals,have%20told%20Middle%20East%20Eye>
(MEE).

“Netanyahu's operations in Gaza are fundamentally aimed at ... hunting
down Yahya
Sinwar
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-rafah-op-a-sure-thing-sinwar-living-on-borrowed-time/>,”
one of the Israeli officers, who is serving in Gaza, told the UK-based
outlet, stressing that the war is “personal” for the premier.

“A few hostages might be exchanged. However, hostages are no longer of
concern to anyone,” the sources said.

Officials in Tel Aviv are reportedly “obsessed” with capturing Sinwar and
other top officials within the Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Hamas.

Another Israeli officer who spoke with MEE said a “new phase” of the
genocidal war involving “long-term military presence” is being planned,
alleging that this has been “partially approved” by Washington.

“This plan has been partially approved by the US … It's all part of a plan
agreed upon by the two countries for a Hamas-free Gaza,” the officer is
quoted as saying.

According to the officer, the Israeli long-term presence in Gaza includes
the ground invasion of Rafah, which Tel Aviv launched earlier this
week by taking
control
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-carpet-bombs-rafah-seizes-control-of-key-border-crossing>
of a key border crossing.

Israeli estimates claim 128 of around 250 captives taken by the Palestinian
resistance on 7 October remain inside Gaza, including 35 who the military
says are dead. According to Hamas officials, at least 70 captives have been
killed by Israeli attacks in the strip.

The new stance by the Israeli government comes despite large protests that
have been raging for weeks by citizens demanding the captives be returned.

“We heard from sources involved in the negotiations that … the one thing
separating us from the return of our loved ones was and remains an Israeli
guarantee of an end to this war. To Netanyahu and the government of Israel,
we clearly say from this stage, if the only way to get the hostages back is
by providing an Israeli guarantee to end this war, then end this war," Shahar
Mor Zahiro
<https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/8/headlines/families_of_israeli_hostages_urge_netanyahu_to_end_war_on_gaza>,
a family member of one of the captives, said during a rally earlier this
week.

Hamas has insisted that any truce deal must permanently end the war, while
Israeli leaders repeatedly demand any ceasefire be only temporary, as they
wish to continue the genocidal war – a position that reflects
<https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-799926> the wishes of a
majority of the Israeli population.

The move by Tel Aviv also reflects a long-standing policy
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/7395> of assassinating rivals, which has
seldom succeeded in deterring the Resistance Axis.

“Decades of targeted political killings have resulted in the unprecedented,
resistance-led, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood of 7 October,” *T**he Cradle*
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/19282> columnist Khalil Harb wrote in
January, stressing that “despite years of ‘mowing the Palestinian grass,’ a
strategy that spares no distinction between politicians, diplomats,
fighters, or intellectuals, Tel Aviv has failed to break the will of the
Palestinian resistance.”

Harb highlights that the decades-long policy has only yielded “deeply
counterproductive results” for Israel.

“The 1992 extrajudicial murder of Hezbollah's former Secretary-General
Abbas al-Musawi increased the Lebanese resistance group's popularity and
hardened its resolve to overthrow the Israeli occupation … Similarly, the
1995 assassination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Founder Fathi
al-Shaqaqi on the island of Malta strengthened the movement, transforming
it into one of the most formidable and committed resistance factions in
Palestinian history.”

According to a Hamas official who spoke to Arabic media last month, Yahya
Sinwar is “not always staying in tunnels, as claimed by Israel, but also
performing his duties in the field.”
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