Netanyahu hints at expanded war in Gaza but former Israeli military and spy chiefs object
Netanyahu
hinted at wider military action in devastated
Gaza
on Tuesday, even as former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs called for an end to the nearly 22-month war.
The new pressure on Netanyahu came as Gaza's
Health Ministry
said the Palestinian death toll had surpassed 61,000. Health officials reported new deaths of hungry Palestinians seeking food at distribution points. As desperation mounts, the Israeli defense body coordinating aid announced a deal with local merchants to improve aid deliveries.
Productivity Tool
Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide
By Metla Sudha Sekhar
View Program
Finance
Introduction to Technical Analysis & Candlestick Theory
By Dinesh Nagpal
View Program
Finance
Financial Literacy i e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code
By CA Rahul Gupta
View Program
Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing Masterclass by Neil Patel
By Neil Patel
View Program
Finance
Technical Analysis Demystified- A Complete Guide to Trading
By Kunal Patel
View Program
Productivity Tool
Excel Essentials to Expert: Your Complete Guide
By Study at home
View Program
Artificial Intelligence
AI For Business Professionals Batch 2
By Ansh Mehra
View Program
Former security officials speaking out included previous leaders of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service,
Mossad
spy agency and the military - and ex-Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In a video posted to social media this week, they said far-right members of the government are holding
Israel
"hostage" in prolonging the conflict.
Netanyahu's objectives in Gaza are "a fantasy," Yoram Cohen, former head of Shin Bet, said in the video.
"If anyone imagines that we can reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon, and in parallel bring our hostages home - I think it is impossible," he said.
Live Events
Tougher military action possible Netanyahu announced Monday that he would convene his
Security Cabinet
to direct the military on the war's next stage, hinting that even tougher action was possible. That meeting has begun, according to an Israeli official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because there was no formal announcement.
Netanyahu said his objectives include defeating
Hamas
, releasing all 50 remaining hostages and ensuring Gaza never again threatens Israel after the Hamas-led 2023 attack sparked the war.
Israeli media reported disagreements between Netanyahu and the army chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, on how to proceed. The reports, citing anonymous officials in Netanyahu's office, said the prime minister was pushing the army, which controls about three quarters of Gaza, to conquer the entire territory - a step that could endanger hostages, deepen the humanitarian crisis and further isolate Israel internationally.
Various reports have said Zamir opposes this step and could step down or be pushed out if it is approved. Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment on the reports.
Egypt's leader calls for war to end Egypt is a mediator in ceasefire talks, and its President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said Israel's war in Gaza has become a "war of starvation, genocide and liquidation of the Palestinian cause."
El-Sissi said the war no longer aims at achieving political aims or releasing the hostages. He reiterated his call for European governments and U.S. President Donald Trump to help stop the war and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza's over 2 million people. Long lines of trucks waiting to enter Gaza from Egypt have been a recurring image of the war.
Egypt has strong security ties with Israel.
More aid-seekers killed Health officials in Gaza said Israeli forces opened fire Tuesday morning toward Palestinians seeking aid and in targeted attacks in central and southern Gaza, killing at least 25 people.
Israel's military did not immediately comment.
The dead included 19 in southern Gaza, 12 of them seeking aid near the Morag corridor and in the Teina area, some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hub east of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital and the Health Ministry.
The ministry doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians but says roughly half the dead have been women and children. It operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of casualty data.
Elsewhere in central Gaza, Al-Awda hospital said it received the bodies of six Palestinians who were killed when Israeli troops targeted crowds near another
GHF
aid distribution site.
The GHF said there were no incidents at its sites Tuesday.
Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites, airdropped parcels and aid convoys, according to witnesses, local health officials and the U.N. human rights office. Israel's military says it only has fired warning shots and disputes the toll.
The Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid, COGAT, said on social media there will be a "gradual and controlled renewal of the entry of goods through the private sector in Gaza."
It said a limited number of local merchants were approved for the plan.
'Stained with humiliation and blood' Mohammed Qassas from Khan Younis said his young children are so hungry that he is forced to storm aid trucks, which rarely reach warehouses these days because they are stopped by hungry crowds.
"How am I supposed to feed them? No one has mercy. This resembles the end of the world," he said Monday. "If we fight, we get the food. If we don't fight, we don't get anything."
It has become routine to see men returning from aid-seeking carrying bodies as well as sacks of flour.
Yusif Abu Mor from Khan Younis called the current aid system akin to a death trap.
"This aid is stained with humiliation and blood," he said, adding that aid seekers run the risk of being shot dead by Israel's military or run over by trucks in the chaotic crowds.
Israel's blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory's slide toward famine. Aid groups say Israel's week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient.
Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas.
As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks.
'The entire world is watching' Palestinians gather daily for funeral prayers.
"We are unarmed people who cannot endure this," shouted Maryam Abu Hatab in the yard of Nasser hospital.
Ekram Nasr said her son was shot dead while seeking aid near the Morag corridor.
"I had to go alone to carry my son," she said, tears in her eyes. "I collected the remains of my son like the meat of dogs from the streets."
She added: "The entire world is watching. They are watching our patience, our strength and our faith in God. But we no longer have the power to endure."
Economic Times WhatsApp channel
)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Video: Israel dismantles 2-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) demolished a two-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel located in the southern Gaza Strip, accusing the militant group of diverting resources meant for rebuilding Gaza to construct an underground network designed for terror Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the IDF's international spokesperson, shared a video online showing the extensive demolition work in the Khan Yunis area. "This is what it looks like when a 2 km Hamas terror tunnel gets dismantled," he could have built skyscrapers for the people of Gaza. Instead, they built terror tunnels under their homes," he is what it looks like when a 2km Hamas terror tunnel gets could have built skyscrapers for the people of Gaza instead they built terror tunnels under their homes. LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) August 5, 2025 According to the IDF, the tunnel served as a passage for Hamas fighters to transport weapons, evade Israeli detection, and carry out attacks -- all beneath densely populated civilian OF TERROR SITES DISMANTLED, SAYS IDFThe military further said that troops from the Kfir Brigade have dismantled hundreds of terrorist infrastructure sites, uncovered numerous weapons caches, and neutralised terrorists operating in the has long accused Hamas of using civilian properties -- including homes, schools, and hospitals -- to conceal its fighters and weapons, putting the people of Gaza in danger by using them as human shields."The IDF says this tunnel is just one part of a larger underground network across Gaza, some of which may extend into Israeli territory," the military INTENSIFIES OPERATIONS IN WEST BANKMeanwhile, Israeli forces intensified operations in the West Bank. During raids in the Palestinian town of Barta'a in the northern West Bank, the IDF located and confiscated combat equipment along with hundreds of thousands of shekels in funds linked to terrorist activities."The forces conducted searches in over 50 structures, where they located and confiscated combat equipment and hundreds of thousands in terrorist funds, as well as apprehended two suspects," the IDF separate raids across Hebron and Yata, Israeli forces arrested four individuals wanted in connection with militant activities.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
'Trump, Please Help': 600 Israeli Security Veterans Revolt Against Israel's War On Gaza, Seek Truce
/ Aug 06, 2025, 04:29AM IST Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces unprecedented backlash from within. In a powerful joint video, hundreds of former Israeli security chiefs, intelligence officials, and military veterans call for an end to the Gaza war — warning that Israel is on the "precipice of defeat." The video, shared by the U.S.-based grassroots group UnXeptable, urges Donald Trump to pressure Israel into halting the offensive. This comes amid growing outrage over Hamas-released videos of severely starved Israeli hostages, sparking protests across Israel and further dividing public opinion. Watch
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
Israel Considering Ordering Total Occupation Of Gaza, Says Report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel must "complete" the defeat of Hamas in Gaza to secure the release of the remaining hostages, days ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss an updated war plan. Israeli media have said the premier is considering ordering the total occupation of Gaza, even as international pressure mounts for him to end the war, with a senior UN official warning Tuesday that expanding the fighting risked "catastrophic consequences", including to the captives held by Hamas. "It is necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, to free all our hostages and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel," Netanyahu said during a visit to an army training facility. His office later said he had held a three-hour "security discussion" with army chief Eyal Zamir, but did not disclose any new war plans. The premier's office has said the security cabinet will convene later in the week to approve new instructions. Public broadcaster Kan has reported that "Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip". Citing cabinet members, it said Netanyahu had "decided to extend the fight to areas where hostages might be held". But some major media outlets such as Channel 12 have suggested that the rumoured expansion of operations might only be a negotiating tactic. While the reported plan has not been approved, it has already drawn angry reactions from the Palestinian Authority and Gaza's Hamas-run government. Hamas insisted such a move would not shift its position in ceasefire talks, demanding the withdrawal of all forces from Gaza. "The ball is in the hands of... (Israel) and the Americans," senior Hamas official Hossam Badran told AFP, adding that the militant group wanted to "end the war and the famine". UN assistant secretary-general Miroslav Jenca told the Security Council on Tuesday that a widening of the war "would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages". Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was also in New York attending a Security Council meeting on the plight of the hostages after recent footage of weak and emaciated captives sparked shock and outrage in Israel. - 'Agreement must be reached' - Over the war's 22 months, Israeli forces have devastated large parts of the Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian crisis has taken hold, with UN experts recently warning of an unfolding famine. The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, 49 of whom remain held in Gaza including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The Israeli offensive has killed at least 61,020 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Netanyahu has faced growing pressure on several fronts. Domestically, families of hostages are demanding a ceasefire to bring their loved ones home. And around the world, there are increasing calls for a truce to allow food into a starving Gaza. The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday said it was "ready to bring in medicine, food and family news for the hostages in Gaza", and to "scale up the delivery of life-saving aid safely to civilians". But "to do this, an agreement must be reached between Israel and Hamas", it said. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners demand to keep fighting and reoccupy Gaza for the long haul, after Israel withdrew settlers and troops stationed there two decades ago. - Aid 'exploited' - Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza in early March, which it only began easing more than two months later to allow a US-backed private agency, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to open food distribution centres. United Nations special rapporteurs called on Tuesday for the GHF to be immediately dismantled, saying aid was being "exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas". COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said it would partially reopen private sector trade with Gaza to reduce its reliance on aid deliveries. "A limited number of local merchants were approved by the defence establishment", and would be allowed to bring in basic staples including fruit, vegetables, baby formula and hygiene products, COGAT said. On the ground in Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 56 Palestinians who were waiting near aid distribution sites on Tuesday. The Israeli military told AFP troops had "fired warning shots" in the direction "a gathering of Gazans advancing" towards them near one of those sites, in the territory's south, but that it was "not aware of any casualties as a result". In northern Gaza, where the civil defence said 20 people were killed not far from an aid crossing, an AFP journalist saw bodies brought to Hamad Hospital. The army told AFP it was looking into the report.
