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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Netanyahu ditches captives to 'hunt down' Hamas leaders: Report</h1><p class="gmail-">As
part of the scheme, Tel Aviv is preparing to establish a 'long-term'
military presence in Gaza with 'partial approval' from the US </p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>MAY 8, 2024 -<font size="1"> </font></span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-ditches-captives-to-hunt-down-hamas-leaders-report">https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-ditches-captives-to-hunt-down-hamas-leaders-report</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/c972b440-0d4e-11ef-ade9-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="408" height="229" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo Credit: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via AFP)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>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 <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-abandoned-freeing-captives-military-officers#:~:text=Israel%20has%20abandoned%20its%20goals,have%20told%20Middle%20East%20Eye"><i>Middle East Eye</i></a> (MEE).</p><p>“Netanyahu's operations in Gaza are fundamentally aimed at ... hunting down <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-rafah-op-a-sure-thing-sinwar-living-on-borrowed-time/">Yahya Sinwar</a>,”
one of the Israeli officers, who is serving in Gaza, told the UK-based
outlet, stressing that the war is “personal” for the premier.</p><p>“A few hostages might be exchanged. However, hostages are no longer of concern to anyone,” the sources said.</p><p>Officials
in Tel Aviv are reportedly “obsessed” with capturing Sinwar and other
top officials within the Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Hamas.</p><p>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.</p><p>“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.</p><p>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 <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-carpet-bombs-rafah-seizes-control-of-key-border-crossing">taking control</a> of a key border crossing.</p><p>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.</p><p>The new
stance by the Israeli government comes despite large protests that have
been raging for weeks by citizens demanding the captives be returned.</p><p>“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," <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/8/headlines/families_of_israeli_hostages_urge_netanyahu_to_end_war_on_gaza">Shahar Mor Zahiro</a>, a family member of one of the captives, said during a rally earlier this week.</p><p>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 <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-799926">reflects</a> the wishes of a majority of the Israeli population.</p><p>The move by Tel Aviv also reflects a long-standing <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/7395">policy</a> of assassinating rivals, which has seldom succeeded in deterring the Resistance Axis. </p><p>“Decades
of targeted political killings have resulted in the unprecedented,
resistance-led, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood of 7 October,” <i>T</i><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/19282"><i>he Cradle</i></a><i> </i>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.”</p><p>Harb highlights that the decades-long policy has only yielded “deeply counterproductive results” for Israel.</p><p>“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.”</p><p>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.”</p></span></div></div></div></div>
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