'Nothing left for Israel's army to do inside Gaza': Outgoing war chief
The ousted defense minister repeated accusations that Netanyahu has deliberately sabotaged a Gaza ceasefire deal since July
Outgoing Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on 7 November revealed to captives' families that the Israeli army has “nothing left in Gaza to do” and that their continued deployment stems from “a desire to be there” by the government, according to accounts from families reported by Israel's Channel 12 News.
“I can tell you what there was not, security considerations. Me and the IDF chief said there was no security reason for remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor,” Gallant reportedly said. “There’s nothing left in Gaza to do. The major achievements have been achieved. I fear we are staying there just because there is a desire to be there."
Gallant is also quoted as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him that keeping troops in Gaza “was a diplomatic consideration.” "I’m telling you there was no diplomatic consideration,” Gallant told the captives' families, the report states.
The outgoing defense chief, who was sacked on Tuesday by Netanyahu, reportedly stressed to the families that the premier is the only person “who decides whether to agree to a ceasefire deal for Gaza,” and added that he, along with other security authorities, “were of the opinion that conditions were ripe for a deal already in July.”
Gallant was removed from his post by Netanyahu earlier this week, citing a lack of mutual trust and disagreements on the “management” of the war in Gaza and Lebanon.
“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the Defense Minister,” Netanyahu said in a video statement released on Tuesday night.
He also accused Gallant of “indirectly aiding” Israel’s enemies.
Thousands of Israeli troops continue to operate across the besieged Gaza Strip as Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign markedly intensified over recent weeks.
Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the north of Gaza since the start of October. Earlier this week, army spokesman Itzik Cohen said during a media briefing that there are “no more civilians left” in Gaza's north.
On Thursday, Tel Aviv denied the statement, claiming the comments were “out of context.”