The Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the call for "absolute victory" against Hamas following critical remarks regarding such a strategy by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Times of Israel reported Monday.
Defense Minister Gallant took a jab at Prime Minister Netanyahu during a Knesset committee discussion about Israel’s response to the ongoing fighting against Hezbollah along the northern border with Lebanon. "I hear all the heroes with the war drums, the ‘absolute victory’ and this gibberish," he said during a meeting of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
Gallant made the statement after he was asked why Israel has not initiated a full-scale war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, adding, "The conditions today for war in Lebanon are unlike those at the beginning of the war [last October]."
A short time later, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement titled: "Gallant is bound by ‘absolute victory,’ too."
"When Gallant adopts an anti-Israel narrative, he hurts the chances of reaching a hostage deal," the statement said.
"He should have attacked [Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar], who refuses to send a delegation to negotiations and who was and remains the only obstacle to the hostage deal."
Netanyahu has stated that Israel must achieve "absolute victory" by eliminating Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and winning the release of the remaining 111 Israeli captives held by the Hamas since its 'Operation Al-Aqsa Flood' on 7 October.
"This is the clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet, and it is binding on everyone – including Gallant," the statement concludes.
In contrast, top Israeli officials, negotiators, and families of the captive Israelis have alleged that Netanyahu seeks to sabotage a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The ministers in Netanyahu’s government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have stated they want to continue the war. They say they wish to destroy Gaza, ethnically cleanse the strip of its 2.3 million indigenous Palestinian inhabitants, and settle Israeli Jews in their place.
Former US army Colonel Douglas McGregor has asserted that Netanyahu’s objective is to "systematically destroy or kill the population of Gaza."