“Clearly an excuse”: does Netanyahu really want Hamas? | News Israel-Palestine Conflict

The War of Israel against Gaza rumbles, even if international condemnation increases.

Hamas expressed that it was ready for an agreement to end the war, even offering to give the administration of Gaza to a technocratic government. The members of the United Nations Security Council voted massively in favor of a ceasefire, a resolution prevented from going only by a veto of the United States.

But Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is categorical in his refusal of any agreement that does not include what he calls “Hamas defeat”, even if it means endangering the Israeli captives still held in Gaza.

“Hamas is already the weakest it has ever been, and there is nothing that they can do who is comparable at a distance from what Israel has,” writer and researcher on Israel-Palestine and founder of the Podcast Fire these times, Elia Ayoub told Al Jazeera.

“There are many evidence now that the only reason why this genocide is underway is that Netanyahu wants him to continue. It is clearly an excuse to maintain war.”

Netanyahu depends on Hamas’

But why would Netanyahu want war – which has been the longest of Israel since 1948, and causes the economic crisis – to continue?

An answer is that the war provides distraction of Netanyahu’s own problems.

The oldest Prime Minister in Israel has well -documented legal problems; He is tried for corruption.

And, apart from that, if a permanent ceasefire was carried out, some analysts think that Israeli society will hold Netanyahu responsible for Safety gaps This led to October 7.

“He is afraid once it is done, his eyes will rightly turn to him for the corruption and the failures of October 7,” said Diana Buttu, legal scholar and former advisor to the Liberation Organization of Palestine.

And so, Netanyahu has two main tasks. The first is to prolong the war, allowing it to continue to use it as an excuse to avoid responsibility. The second is to prevent the rupture of his government, while in a way preparing for another successful election, which must occur before October 2026.

Netanyahu was “dependent on Hamas throughout the war,” an expert in Israel and Palestine told Al Jazeera for the International Crisis group.

“The extreme right and Netanyahu have always used Hamas as an excuse not to negotiate or plan a day after,” she said.

Israel’s goal has nothing to do with Hamas

The Israeli refusal to negotiate a final end to war contrasts strongly with the will of Hamas to put all the captives held in Gaza.

Over the past 20 months, much of Hamas management has been killed. Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, was murdered in Tehran on July 31, and Yahya Sinwar, his successor, was killed in Gaza on October 16.

Israel now claims to have killed Sinwar’s successor and younger brother, Mohammed, although Hamas has not yet confirmed his death.

Military military, according to analysts, Hamas has lost significant strength. He always leads certain attacks, but less and further between the ambushes he was able to perform earlier in the war.

In a sign that Hamas perhaps understands that he is no longer able to govern Gaza, he also proposed to withdraw from the administration of the Palestinian territory, which he has controlled since 2006 and to give to a technocratic government.

“The tech offer is not new,” said Hamzé Attar, a defense analyst based in Luxembourg in Gaza.

“It was on the table since before the invasion of Rafah (occurred on May 6, 2024). They want Hamas to give up arms and abandon everything, and Hamas replied by saying:” We are dismissing each other. “”

This was firmly rejected by Israel, which did not approve any vision of Gaza by post-war period.

Instead, in recent months, Israel has killed more than 54,300 Palestinians and injured more than 124,000 in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the territory.

Ethnic cleaning: the deeper lens

In addition, Gaza is now “The most hungry place on earthAccording to the UN, all its inhabitants at risk of famine after Israel strangled the aid with the help of his war, then completely blocked it from March 2 to May 27.

Israel has also transformed 70% of the enclave into prohibited areas.

Throughout this time, the bombing by Israel of Gaza continues.

Actualing the pretext of destroying Hamas and returning the captives, some analysts think that there is a deeper objective: Pushing the Palestinians from Gaza.

“Neither Hamas nor hostages are targets,” said Méron Rappaport, editor -in -chief of premises Call, an information site in Hebrew language.

“The objective is to push the inhabitants of Gaza into very few small and closed areas where the food will be barely delivered, hoping that the pressure on them will allow them to ask to leave the band.”

“Israel no longer fights Hamas,” he added.

Netanyahu declared at the end of May that Israel Check the entire Gaza at the end of his last offensive, while many foreign officials And experts have warned directly or implicitly that the actions of Israel equivalent to Gaza ethnically cleaner.

A recent report to Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, cited 82% of Jewish Israelis supporting the Expulsion of the inhabitants of Gaza.

To do this, a historical impact would have a historical impact, said Buttu, the one that Netanyahu might think that he can represent as protecting Israel from a Palestinian state – something he has repeatedly promised to prevent.

“He recognizes that he will be the guy in the fall or the hero,” said Buttu. “If he is the one who cleans Ethnically Gaza, he becomes the hero.”

Until it happens, according to analysts, the Palestinians will continue to die in the hands of the Israeli army. Hamas is the pretext and their desire to negotiate or succumb is of secondary importance.

“Benjamin Netanyahu does not intend to end this war,” said Zonszein. “No matter what Hamas offers. They can offer to return all hostages or abandon governance.

“This war will continue until Netanyahu is forced to stop it, and that can only come from Trump.”

Additional reports by Simon Speakman Cordall