But analysts say the Israeli military’s biggest concern is to ensure that hard-won tactical gains against Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, are not wasted. To do that, Admiral Hagari said, it needs an alternative to Hamas in Gaza.
For now, Netanyahu has tried to avoid deciding how to govern Gaza after the fighting ends. The United States and other allies say the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, should ultimately take control of the strip, but his far-right coalition partners, on whose behalf his political survival depends, support permanent Israeli rule of the territory.
As a result, facing conflicting pressures, Netanyahu has mainly said “no.” He has ruled out both a Palestinian Authority and new Israeli settlements in Gaza, and vowed to keep attacking Hamas until it is destroyed, while saying little about who will ultimately be responsible for the territory’s 2.2 million residents.
General Shamni said Admiral Hagari’s comments appeared to be aimed at pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to take a stand. “You have to decide. Tell us what you want,” General Shamni said. “We don’t want a Palestinian Authority, OK? Tell us what you want instead. A military junta? They haven’t even said that.”
“The government as a whole has not taken a position,” he added.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month that Netanyahu’s inability to make a clear choice was pushing Israel inexorably toward two unwanted outcomes: an Israeli military government in the Gaza Strip or Hamas ultimately assuming power.
“We will pay a lot of blood and sacrifices for no purpose, and we will pay a heavy economic price,” Gallant said in a televised address.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face growing anarchy. There is no police to enforce law and order, and public services such as garbage collection are nearly nonexistent. In the southern Gaza Strip, thousands of tons of humanitarian aid are stranded on the Gaza side of Israel’s main border crossing because aid groups say it’s too dangerous to distribute them.
Israeli military leaders are increasingly worried that they could be forced to shoulder that burden, said Amir Avibi, a former Israeli brigadier general who chairs the hardline forum of former security officials. “That’s the last thing they want,” Avibi said, though he privately supports Israel’s long-term control of the territory.
Gen. Abibi said some believe the war’s objectives have been achieved as far as they can and want to end the operation in Gaza and shift focus to escalating tensions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
