Freeing captives, destroying Hamas pure science fiction, Smotrich says
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Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich says freeing the Israeli captives in Gaza and the destruction of Hamas is pure science fiction.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Security Ministry in 'Tel Aviv', occupied Palestine, January 7, 2024 (AP)
Israeli occupation Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich believes that the claim that Israeli captives in Gaza can be released and then "Israel" could go back to fighting and eliminate Hamas is "science fiction."
The Knesset Channel quoted Smotrich as saying that he would not agree to a deal that includes a ceasefire with Hamas, adding: "You can say that releasing the captives and going back to fighting and eliminating Hamas is science fiction."
It is worth noting that Smotrich and Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir always urge in their extremist statements to continue fighting and continue the war with the declared aim of destroying the Gaza Strip.
Former Israeli Reserve General Yitzhak Brick said on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation will not be able to achieve its main war objectives of ending Hamas and its political and military capabilities or retrieving the captives, and this failure would impose on the occupation entity paying a very heavy price.
In a Haaretz op-ed, Brick explained that the upcoming phase of the war on Gaza will be extremely difficult for "Israel", as it will face several barriers that it has no solutions for so far.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the option of an attack to isolate Gaza from Egypt is on the table. The military plan aims to occupy the Philadelphi Route or Corridor, a region extending between the Gaza-Egypt border, which Rafah is at the center of, to block Resistance tunnels and routes.
Read more: Sayyed Nasrallah: 'Israel' mired in failure; US intimidation futile
However, Israeli media reported that It will be impossible for Israeli occupation forces to fight inside the densely populated Rafah refugee camps due to the high civilian cost of such a ground offensive, which neither the entity nor the United States can handle at this point.
This comes as global popular pressure is constantly growing against the occupation entity for its ongoing genocide in Gaza, with brutality and destruction unforeseen in long decades.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Monday that the number of martyrs in the Strip surpassed 25,295, with 63,000 wounded.
Leave not empty-handed
Meanwhile, Brick said that in order for "Israel" not to pay a heavy price, it must change its strategy and withdraw from Khan Younis and the camps in central Gaza in the third stage of the war.
The General added that "Israel should then besiege them from the outside, carry out precise operations, and infiltrate Hamas forces surgically with the help of intelligence information."
He stressed that the ultimate goal is still achievable, which is to bring back all Israeli captives through an agreement with the Resistance Hamas, even if it comes at the expense of a ceasefire in Gaza so that "Israel" does not leave empty-handed, having failed to achieve all the objectives it set.
Read more: Resistance position clear; no talks until Israeli war stops: Official
Haaretz said in a report on Tuesday that the price of a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza without achieving the war objectives is a recognition of failure on behalf of the government and army. According to the newspaper, this will deepen the internal disputes among Israeli officials.
