Editorials

Netanyahu Trapped Between War And A Prison Cell

Editor

Jumada' al-Ula' 10, 14472025-11-01

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The indicted war criminal Benjamin Mileikowsky (aka Netanyahu) knows that a permanent end to the war on Gaza would mean he will go to prison. He faces a slew of corruption and fraud charges. He has had his trial postponed several times pleading his deep involvement in the conduct of war.

A tenuous ceasefire went into effect on October 10 but the Netanyahu regime has repeatedly violated it. At least 80 ceasefire violations have been reported resulting in 98 Palestinian deaths. At least 230 others have been injured, among them children. October 19 was a particularly gruesome day: 44 Palestinians were murdered by the zionist occupation forces.

Far from showing remorse, the zionist war criminal boasted on October 20 that his army had struck the Gaza Strip with 153 tons of bombs a day earlier. Only a hardened war criminal would do so.

And what was the reason for his boast? He alleged that Hamas fighters had emerged from a tunnel and attacked Israeli soldiers, killing two of them. Hamas fighters did not carry out the attack.

Israeli soldiers were killed when their bulldozer hit an unexploded ordnance that the zionists had dropped to kill Palestinians. Their own munition killed them. Even the Americans were aware of this.

So, why did Netanyahu lie so blatantly? Every word that emits from his foul mouth is intended to mislead. This is what he did during the opening session of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on October 20 when he alleged the Hamas attack.

Like a trapped animal, he is thrashing about desperately. He wants to wriggle out of the charges against him. Netanyahu’s trial began in 2020 and involves three criminal cases.

Even Donald Trump made an appeal on his behalf to the Israeli president to pardon him. Trump was addressing the Israeli Knesset on October 13 where he claimed—completely falsely but what else is new—that he had brought an end to the 3,000-year-old war. Many people were left scratching their heads as to what Trump was talking about.

It is Netanyahu’s fear of being sent to prison that leads him to continue the war on Palestinian civilians. He believes it is better to wage war and kill innocent Palestinians than be put on trial and sent to jail. His neo-Nazi allies—Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich et al—want more Palestinians killed. For these bloodthirsty monsters, the only good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian.

Notwithstanding Trump’s appeal to the Israeli president for a pardon, Netanyahu faces harsh criticism from opposition lawmakers on other issues as well. They accuse him, quite rightly, of prolonging the war to cling to power.

In more than two years, the zionist war machine has failed to subdue Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters. It is all the more striking since the Israeli army is equipped with the most lethal weapons the US can supply. Despite using war planes, missiles, drones, artillery, tanks and armoured personnel carriers, it has been unable to defeat Palestinian fighters armed with only homemade weapons.

Nor has the occupation army succeeded in destroying the vast network of tunnels that the resistance has built in Gaza. Several Israeli commentators have acknowledged this reality, among them a journalist for Israel’s i24News. He said that the war has practically ended without Gaza being disarmed, that Hamas has remained an operational organization with its leadership intact, and that its network of tunnels and overall control of the sector have persisted.

Avi Issacharoff, a Palestinian affairs analyst for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper told Israeli Channel 12 that “the primary goal set by the Israeli government two years ago, toppling Hamas’ rule, has not been accomplished.” He also said “Hamas has persisted as the governing authority in Gaza.”

Issacharoff added that even during the ceasefire, “Hamas fighters are still present in the streets, heavily armed, with their faces covered by masks to avoid identification and wearing protective armor, all while demonstrating effective governance.” He described the enduring presence of Hamas as the ruling power as the undeniable reality on the ground today.

Nor is Issacharoff alone in such assessment. Israeli journalist and writer Haim Levinson observed that Hamas has survived as a coherent organization, a fact he described as an established reality, noting that the group has maintained a complete and disciplined military structure with dedicated fighters and that it has not been broken despite two grueling years of war.

The most damning indictment has come from Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik. Commenting on the ceasefire, he said Trump saved “Israel” from itself, an act he described as nothing short of a miracle.

In an interview for i24News, he said, “To anyone talking about continuing the war in Gaza today, I want to remind you of what [war minister] Eyal Zamir said, and I said it before he did, that it is a death trap,” explicitly stating that “the Israeli army is not capable of defeating Hamas.” Brik also confirmed that the Israeli army is exhausted, its ranks and equipment are depleted and it cannot achieve any of the goals set by Netanyahu.

Regarding freeing Israeli captives held by Hamas, Brik said that the army failed to do so. They were released as part of negotiated deals. On one occasion, when four Israelis escaped captivity and were heading toward Israeli soldiers, they were shot and killed by the terrified Israeli soldiers. The escapees may have survived had they been in captivity and would be free now.

Brik said that “the war is effectively over, that Hamas will not be disarmed, although it is no longer the primary threat when compared to the dangers emerging around us.” The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, however, has returned to controlling areas of the strip vacated by the occupation force.

Hamas is also confronting the Israeli-supported gangs that are terrorizing Palestinian civilians. Several have been executed including those that collaborated with the occupation army against their own people. Agreeing to some parts of the Trump ceasefire deal, Hamas made no commitment to disarm, halt rearmament, cease weapons production, or stop digging tunnels.

Instead, it said it was willing to discuss options in the framework of a technocratic Palestinian setup taking over the governance of Gaza. Hamas, however, is quite clear; it will not allow any foreign occupation of their land or its governance. The Islamic resistance movement has categorically rejected any role for the war criminal Tony Blair in running Gaza, as proposed in the Trump plan.

Faced with this grim reality, Netanyahu knows he has failed both militarily and politically. There are increasing calls for a public inquiry into the October 7, 2023 debacle, a call Netanyahu is resisting. He knows such an inquiry will only compound his woes, and lead to his disqualification from politics not to mention a long jail term.

It cannot be ruled out that Netanyahu might commit suicide to end his miserable life. Now that would be a fitting end to an unrepentant war criminal.

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