JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a mounting crisis after Israel’s worst day of troop losses in the Gaza war as well as growing protests over his failure to bring hostages back.
The military’s strategy in the Palestinian territory is under intense scrutiny following the death of 24 troops on Monday, Israel’s biggest one-day loss since its ground offensive in Gaza started in late October.
Among those killed were 21 reservists, who died in a single incident.
The incident, which saw rocket-propelled grenade fire hit a tank and two buildings the soldiers were trying to blow up, was deemed a “disaster” by Netanyahu.
Emmanuel Navon, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, told AFP the troop losses “affect everybody, because almost everybody in the country has a son or brother or a relative (fighting in Gaza).”
Israelis would now be increasingly asking “what is the strategy... Do we really keep going until we finish Hamas?,” he added.
At the same time, splits have emerged in Netanyahu’s war cabinet following protests in Tel Aviv and outside his Jerusalem home, where relatives of hostages staged a rally Monday chanting “everybody and now” to urge the return of captives.
“The current mood in the war cabinet is very bad,” said Julia Elad-Strenger, a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu’s steadfast vow to eliminate the Palestinian militant group Hamas in response to the October 7 attack is increasingly seen within the cabinet as incompatible with returning hostages held in Gaza, experts told AFP.
Two members of the five-person war cabinet, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, have rejected Netanyahu’s stance that only military pressure on Hamas will allow the return of hostages, the experts said.
“According to Netanyahu there can be no victory with Hamas left standing, according to Gantz and Eisenkot there can be no victory with hostages lost,” said Reuven Hazan, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Eisenkot, whose son died fighting in Gaza, gave an interview last week in which he split from Netanyahu’s long-held position.
“It is impossible to return the hostages alive in the near future without an agreement (with Hamas),” he told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
Netanyahu has vowed “total victory” over Hamas in response to the unprecedented attack by its fighters on October 7 that resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The militants seized about 250 hostages and Israel says around 132 remain in besieged Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead hostages, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli data.
In response to the attack, Israel has launched a relentless offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 25,490 people, around 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, according to the latest toll issued Tuesday by Gaza’s health ministry.
Netanyahu has rejected suggestions that his government should hold another round of talks with Hamas to reach a similar deal to one struck in November that led to the release of 80 Israeli hostages.
Under that deal, brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, a seven-day humanitarian pause was agreed that allowed aid deliveries into Gaza, while hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for hostages.
The Israeli premier doubled down on his refusal to enter talks with Hamas on Sunday, saying: “The conditions demanded by Hamas demonstrate a simple truth: there is no substitute for victory.”
Netanyahu said Hamas had set conditions for the release of more hostages that included an end to the war, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and guarantees that the group will stay in power.
Experts said they expected the Israeli premier to continue the war as a tactic to remain in power, even as pressure to change course mounts.
“I think he has made a decision to keep this war going and not just for his political interests, but endless war is his strategy in general,” said Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group.
“As far as Netanyahu is concerned, if the war lasts beyond 2024 that’s better for him politically because it gets October 7 further away from us and it gives him a chance to rebuild,” said Hazan of Hebrew University.
“Right now he is at the worst point in his entire career,” said Hazan.
Netanyahu under pressure over Israel troop losses, hostages
https://arab.news/w5t45
Netanyahu under pressure over Israel troop losses, hostages
- Israel said aims of its war against Hamas movement in Gaza were unchanged
- ‘We experienced one of our most difficult days since the war erupted,’ PM said
Lebanon approves financial gap draft law despite opposition from Hezbollah and Lebanese Forces
- Legislation aims to address the fate of billions of dollars in deposits that have been inaccessible to Lebanese citizens during the country’s financial meltdown
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cabinet on Friday approved a controversial draft law to regulate financial recovery and return frozen bank deposits to citizens. The move is seen as a key step in long-delayed economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.
The decision, which passed with 13 ministers voting in favor and nine against, came after marathon discussions over the so-called “financial gap” or deposit recovery bill, stalled for years since the banking crisis erupted in 2019. The ministers of culture and foreign affairs were absent from the session.
The legislation aims to address the fate of billions of dollars in deposits that have been inaccessible to Lebanese citizens during the country’s financial meltdown.
The vote was opposed by three ministers from the Lebanese Forces Party, three ministers from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, as well as the minister of youth and sports, Nora Bayrakdarian, the minister of communications, Charles Al-Hajj, and the minister of justice, Adel Nassar.
Finance Minister Yassin Jaber broke ranks with his Hezbollah and Amal allies, voting in favor of the bill. He described his decision as being in line with “Lebanon’s supreme financial interest and its obligations to the IMF and the international community.”
The draft law triggered fierce backlash from depositors who reject any suggestion they shoulder responsibility for the financial collapse. It has also drawn strong criticism from the Association of Banks and parliamentary blocs, fueling fears the law will face intense political wrangling in Parliament ahead of elections scheduled in six months.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam confirmed the Cabinet had approved the bill and referred it to Parliament for debate and amendments before final ratification. Addressing public concerns, he emphasized that the law includes provisions for forensic auditing and accountability.
“Depositors with accounts under $100,000 will be repaid in full with interest and without any deductions,” Salam said. “Large depositors will also receive their first $100,000 in full, and the remainder will be issued as negotiable bonds backed by the assets of the Central Bank, valued at around $50 billion.”
He said further that bondholders will receive an initial 2 percent payout after the first tranche of repayments is completed.
The law also includes a clause requiring criminal accountability. “Anyone who smuggled funds abroad or benefited from unjustified profits will be fined 30 percent,” Salam said.
He emphasized that Lebanon’s gold reserves will remain untouched. “A clear provision reaffirms the 1986 law barring the sale or mortgaging of gold without parliamentary approval,” he said, dismissing speculation about using the reserves to cover financial losses.
Salam admitted that the law was not perfect but called it “a fair step toward restoring rights.”
“The banking sector’s credibility has been severely damaged. This law aims to revive it by valuing assets, recapitalizing banks, and ending Lebanon’s dangerous reliance on a cash economy,” he said. “Each day of delay further erodes people’s rights.”
While the Association of Banks did not release an immediate response after the vote, it previously argued during discussions that the law would destroy remaining deposits. Bank representatives said lenders would struggle to secure more than $20 billion to cover the initial repayment tier and accused the state of absolving itself of responsibility while effectively granting amnesty for decades of financial mismanagement and corruption.
The law’s fate now rests with Parliament, where political competition ahead of the 2025 elections could complicate or delay its passage.
Lebanon’s banking sector has been at the heart of the country’s economic collapse, with informal capital controls locking depositors out of their savings and trust in state institutions plunging. International donors, including the IMF, have made reforms to the sector a key condition for any financial assistance.
