ISRAELI MILITARY CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE IN GAZA

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military leadership reportedly wants a ceasefire in Gaza, even if it means leaving Hamas in charge, in a sign of the deepening rift between the Israeli Defence Forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The IDF believes a ceasefire is the best way to free the hostages still held by Hamas, and could make it easier to head off a wider war with Hezbollah, The New York Times reports.

Mr Netanyahu immediately hit back, insisting: “It won’t happen”. In a video statement posted on X, Mr Netanyaju said: “I don’t know who those unnamed parties are, but I’m here to make it unequivocally clear: it won’t happen.

“We will end the war only after we have achieved all of its goals, including the elimination of Hamas and the release of all our hostages.”

The IDF has changed its stance over Gaza in part because of the difficulties of defeating Hamas, which continually regroups in strongholds from where the military has cleared them.

The nine-month long war has also depleted the army’s munitions and resources, a growing concern ahead of an expected wider war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The military is in full support of a hostage deal and a ceasefire,” Eyal Hulata, Israel’s former national security adviser, who speaks regularly with senior military officials, told The New Tork Times. “They believe that they can always go back and engage Hamas militarily in the future.

“They understand that a pause in Gaza makes de-escalation more likely in Lebanon. And they have less munitions, less spare parts, less energy than they did before – so they also think a pause in Gaza gives us more time to prepare in case a bigger war does break out with Hezbollah.”

It came as the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Gaza said 1.9 million people – 80 per cent of the territory’s population – were now displaced, adding she was “deeply concerned” by reports of new evacuation orders for Khan Younis. The UN has estimated that up to 250,000 people are impacted by the Israeli military order for civilians to leave parts of Khan Younis and Rafah in the Gaza Strip, which has a total population of 2.4 million.

“Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been plunged into an abyss of suffering; their home lives shattered, their lives upended,” the UN co-ordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, told the Security Council.

“Over one million people have been displaced once again, desperately seeking shelter and safety, (and) 1.9 million people are now displaced,” she said.

Witnesses described intense bombardment around Khan Younis in some of the heaviest fighting in southern Gaza’s main city since Israeli troops withdrew in early April. A hospital source said shelling killed at least eight people. It followed a rocket attack on Israel, for which the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, allied with Hamas, claimed responsibility.

The latest evacuation order has renewed fears among Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced multiple times by the Israel-Hamas war that started in October, with thousands fleeing.