On the eve of White House meeting, Netanyahu faces a choice: occupation of Gaza or truce with Hamas - FT
Kyiv • UNN
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is preparing to meet with Trump to discuss the future of the war in Gaza. The Israeli government has been debating between supporters of the occupation of the Strip and those who support a ceasefire.
Next week, Israel's prime minister will discuss the war in Gaza with US President Donald Trump at the White House, as some members of the Israeli government, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are in favor of occupying Gaza.
Transmits to UNN with reference to FT.
Next week , Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House, where they are expected to discuss whether the temporary ceasefire agreed last month, which will last for another four weeks, will become a permanent ceasefire.
During the 16 months of war, the Israeli prime minister did not outline a detailed vision for the future of Gaza.
Outwardly, Netanyahu is committed to the goals he set at the beginning of the war: to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip and to return all hostages taken during the militant attack on October 7, 2023.
But now it is clearer than ever that these goals are almost certainly incompatible
No sooner had the fighting ended, which launched the process that would eventually return the 33 hostages, than Hamas militants regained control of the coastal area.
The war “did not lead to the collapse of Hamas or the release of hostages,” says Michael Milstein, a former Israeli intelligence officer. There were “tactical gains, but not strategic gains. Hamas still rules, and it is still the dominant player in Gaza. Period.
Large fork
Netanyahu will soon have to decide whether he is ready to see the deal through.
On the one hand, he has to reckon with the mercurial Trump, his most important international patron, who forced the Israeli leader to agree to the initial 42-day truce and made the return of all hostages his primary goal.
On the other hand, the current head of the Israeli government is trying to retain extreme right-wing members of his cabinet, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrych.
Smotrych, who opposed the ceasefire, vowed to quit and “dismantle” Netanyahu's ruling coalition if Israel does not resume the war and occupy Gaza after the first phase of the agreement ends in late February.
By the way, Smotrych and other ultranationalist leaders have taken advantage of the US leader's recent repeated calls to “clean up” Gaza and relocate most of the population to Egypt or Jordan.
I am working with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to prepare an operational plan and ensure that President Trump's vision is realized
As for the newly elected US president, Trump has made no secret of his desire to link the end of the Gaza conflict to a broader normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The largest Arab state in Central Asia by area insists on creating an “irreversible” path to a Palestinian state.
Normalization with the kingdom would be an incentive for Netanyahu to end the war, the FT writes.
Recall
Four Israeli female soldiers abducted by Hamas from the Nahal Oz post on October 7 returned home on October 1. The hostages were transferred through the Red Cross and reunited with their families.