Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “cannot continue in office,” calling for elections during the war that has been ongoing in the Gaza Strip for more than two months.

This is the first call from a senior Israeli official to hold elections during the war, as previous calls were limited to calling for elections after the war.

Lapid said, in an interview with the “Ynet” website affiliated with the “Yedioth Ahronoth” newspaper: “Netanyahu cannot continue as prime minister,” and that “elections can be held during the war.”

Netanyahu insists on continuing the war, hoping to end Hamas’ continued rule of Gaza since the summer of 2007, and to eliminate the military capabilities of the movement, which asserts that it resists the Israeli occupation and defends the Palestinians.

Expectations are rising within Israel that anticipated post-war investigations into the military and intelligence failure against the Hamas movement will spell the end of Netanyahu’s political career.

For about a year, Netanyahu has headed a coalition government described in the Hebrew media as “the most extreme right-wing government in the history of Israel.”

Regarding his opinion about the news of a possible new truce agreement that includes a prisoner exchange deal, Lapid, the former prime minister, responded that “a new proposal must be presented to the table.” “Once the card is on the table, it will trigger action, even if it is not accepted.”

He added: “I made it clear to the Prime Minister that the opposition would provide support, even in exchange for painful prices in a deal (regarding) kidnapped persons.”

Netanyahu had not commented on Lapid’s statements, but he repeatedly tried to hold the army and intelligence services responsible for the failures. This sparked sharp criticism even within his own government.

The Israeli government is facing increasing pressure to reach a new prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, in light of a series of demonstrations that began on the evening of December 15 in Tel Aviv and other cities.

The demonstrations began after the Israeli army announced that it had “accidentally” killed three Israeli prisoners in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, in the middle of this month, while they were raising the white flag and calling for help in Hebrew.

According to Hebrew media, about 132 prisoners remain in Gaza.

In response to “daily Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people and their sanctities,” on October 7, Hamas launched the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack against Israeli settlements and military bases around Gaza.

Hamas killed about 1,200 Israelis, wounded about 5,431, and captured about 239, exchanging dozens of them, during a humanitarian truce that lasted 7 days until December 1, with Israel, which holds more than 7,800 Palestinians in its prisons.

Source: Sama News