All-out war in Gaza ‘is coming to an end’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is close to shifting to a less-intense phase of fighting in Gaza, and that he ­opposes the idea of re-establishing Israeli civilian settlements in Gaza, a key ambition of his far-right ­coalition partners.

He also said he hoped the US would expedite arms shipments to Israel, following a public spat with Washington.

“The intensive phase of the war is about to end,” Mr Netanyahu said in an interview televised on Sunday (Monday AEST), a rare live prime-time appearance for an Israeli audience.

He said fighting would continue in Gaza until Hamas was fully uprooted, and that he ­opposed a US-backed proposal in which Israel would agree to a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the release of all 116 hostages that Hamas is holding there.

Almost immediately after the interview, the Prime Minister’s ­office seemed to walk back his ­remarks with a statement that said it was Hamas, not Mr Netanyahu, who was opposed to the current ceasefire proposal.

The Israeli leader said once the intensive fighting in Gaza was over, troops serving in the Palestinian enclave would be sent to ­Israel’s northern border, where there is an increasing possibility of war breaking out with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel’s military was working on a phased plan to establish Palestinian civilian control in the Gaza Strip, adding that he remained opposed to establishing a Palestinian state in the enclave or transferring control to the Palestinian Authority, which governs most Palestinians in the West Bank. He said the possibility that Israel would need to establish temporary military control over civilian life in Gaza was also being considered.

Polls show strong support among Israel’s right wing for re-establishing Israeli settlements in Gaza, which were evacuated by ­Israel in 2005. Mr Netanyahu, however, said the idea was “not ­realistic and doesn’t serve the aims of the war”.

In a weekly cabinet meeting earlier on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said there had been a “dramatic drop” in weapons transfers from the US to Israel starting four months ago, doubling down on an allegation he made publicly last week. The Biden administration has denied that it is withholding large amounts of arms and ammunition.

Mr Netanyahu said he spoke out after weeks of unsuccessfully trying to work behind the scenes to resolve the issue. He has faced criticism in Israel and in Washington over his public comments.

“The basic situation hasn’t changed,” he said on Sunday. “Certain items have trickled in, but the great mass of ammunition has stayed behind.”

Mr Netanyahu’s earlier remarks came as Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, travelled to Washington to meet US officials to discuss the Israeli military’s plans to move to a lower-intensity phase of the conflict as Israel nears completion of major combat operations in Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where it says Hamas has its remaining intact battalions.

Before leaving for Washington, Mr Gallant said he planned to discuss winding the war down. “The transition to ‘Phase C’ in Gaza is of great importance,” he said, referring to the three stages of war the military had laid out. “I will discuss this transition with US officials, touching on how it may enable additional things.”

The Israeli military says the first stage of the war was preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 that Israeli authorities say killed 1200 people, most of them civilians. More than 37,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing fighting, also mostly civilians, according to Palestinian health authorities. The second phase is the continuing ground operation that seeks to dismantle Hamas’s armed forces and military infrastructure and make it unable to govern Gaza. The third would effectively be counter-insurgency operations targeting remaining Hamas leaders and militants with smaller-scale raids and strikes.

Mr Gallant is also expected to discuss concerns that Israel could be heading toward a full-fledged war with Hezbollah.