Inter-Israeli divide amid multi-front 'war without strategic goals'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
29 Oct 2024 01:34

Amid heavy losses and surging tensions, Israeli leaders, including President Herzog and opposition leader Lapid, call for critical action on retrieving captives, challenging Netanyahu's leadership.

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Police disperse people protesting against Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and calling for the release of captives held in the Gaza Strip, near al-quds, occupied Palestine, on Oct. 28, 2024. (AP)

Israeli occupation Finance Minister and leader of the Religious Zionism Party, Bezalel Smotrich, a supporter of continuing the war, acknowledged the heavy losses the Israeli forces are incurring, particularly in terms of casualties, with the latter tearfully speaking about "[going] from one funeral to another."

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation President Isaac Herzog, from the Knesset, also urged "doing everything possible to bring back all the captives," calling for the establishment of a formal investigative committee on the events of October 7, 2023.

Herzog warned against a potential renewed confrontation among Israeli occupation authorities, urging that unilateral actions be avoided.

Former Chief of Staff in 2006: 'War without strategic goals'

In the same context, former Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz emphasized that the 101 captives in the Gaza Strip "must be brought back at any cost now," stating that this requires a halt to the fighting.

Halutz, who served as Chief of Staff during the July War against Lebanon in 2006, said the war being waged by the occupation is "without specific strategic goals."

Netanyahu fears drone attack on the Knesset: Where will you go?

Simultaneously, Israel’s Kan channel reported on "Netanyahu's fear of the threat from drones and his concern that one might strike the Knesset."

The Israeli media correspondent revealed that Netanyahu expressed his fear of this threat after Hezbollah struck his residence in Caesarea with a drone, asking participants in a closed discussion, "Where will you go if a drone heads to the Knesset now?"

Moreover, Netanyahu expressed a particular concern about drones, questioning why the Knesset was meeting in its usual location for the winter session opening instead of a different venue.

Lapid exposes IOF underreporting of casualties

Around 12,000 Israeli occupation soldiers were either injured or killed since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which later expanded into the West Bank and along the northern front with Lebanon.

"Eleven thousand soldiers were injured and 890 others killed," Lapid told Israeli Channel 12, underscoring that the number of dead and injured soldiers in the Israeli army will continue to increase if the leadership of the current occupation government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "doesn’t do anything."

"It cannot be said that this didn’t happen. It cannot be ignored that 11,000 soldiers are injured and 890 others killed," Lapid exclaimed.

According to Quds News Network, Lapid emphasized that the military conceals the true casualty numbers, as he asserted, "There are limits to how much we accept the alternative facts,” adding that the figures that he provided are "correct."

Significantly, Lapid also revealed that "if you have any doubt about these data, you should go to the hospitals: Tel HaShomer, Ichilov, Rambam."

Lapid also asserted that Netanyahu's government "has not brought any positive change," pointing out that "Israel has never been hit with as many rockets as now, nor suffered this many casualties among soldiers and settlers, nor faced such prolonged evacuations of settlers from their homes."

Lapid further criticized Netanyahu, asserting that "no one has weakened Israel more than he has."

Demonstration demands return of captives in occupied al-Quds

Meanwhile, around 40 protesters approached Netanyahu's residence in occupied al-Quds, and police forcibly evacuated them.

Approximately 40 pro-captives deal protesters reached an amusement park near the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Gaza Street in al-Quds, and police began to forcibly remove them.

The protesters, including former Security Minister Moshe Ya’alon, sat down and refused to leave as police attempted to remove them forcibly from the park.