Netanyahu and the justifications for resuming the war

Before flying to the United States today to meet with US President Donald Trump next Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been very busy over the past few days discussing and examining how to resume the war and aggression on Gaza, through a meeting he held in his office the day before yesterday, Friday, through his recent decision last night to replace the leadership of the negotiating team and appoint his close minister Ron Dermer as head instead of David Barnea, the current head, and not ending with the final meeting last night to discuss sending the negotiating delegation to Doha on Monday.

While the resistance, through the arrangements and scenes of the Israeli prisoners, is keen to present the best way of organization and popular mobilization, and the ability to lead the Gaza Strip and formulate the day after the war in a purely Palestinian formulation, and send messages to Israel about Hamas’s ability to proceed at the same pace in all stages of the deal, in commitment to the national, literary and moral position with the mediators, and to implement and apply the outcomes of the ceasefire agreement as it should, the Israeli side seems disturbed by the system and the mechanisms of delivery that are carried out in accordance with international law and with respect for the dignity of the prisoners regardless of their beliefs. Therefore, Netanyahu has been seeking since the first day of the ceasefire to thwart the deal and blow it up, even before it reaches the second stage, under pressure from the extremist ministers in his government, in order to compensate for the failure to achieve the image of victory, after the resistance has proven its presence strongly.

Changing the course of negotiations from security to political by assigning the task of heading the Israeli negotiating team to Minister Dermer, who is close to Netanyahu, is a step with very complex consequences. According to Israeli sources, it could lead to sabotaging the deal, and perhaps blowing up its first stage, because Netanyahu is well aware that keeping Barnea as head of the delegation will give the ceasefire agreement greater momentum to preserve and continue it, while Dermer’s presence will keep the options open, including the ease of resuming the war.

Hence, during his visit to the United States, he will seek to secure Trump's support for any step that would allow Israel to resume the war. There is no doubt that the statements of the Forum of Families of Israeli Detainees, regarding the media campaign in Israel aimed at justifying the resumption of the war and blaming Hamas, prove that Netanyahu is serious in his intentions to sabotage the deal, abandon the Israeli prisoners, and sow discord among them. The families of the prisoners described his government as brutal, and that he will evade as he did during the era of former President Biden. Will Trump allow him to do so, and what is the reward that he will give him to maintain his presence at the head of the government? And keep the deal as it is until the end?

The answer is easy when you see this loud military campaign that Israel is waging in the northern West Bank, especially the Jenin and Tulkarm camps, and the martyrs who are rising daily, and the destruction of the infrastructure, and the burning, demolition and destruction of the homes of the camp residents, and their expulsion from the refugee camps, in addition to Trump’s own attempts to displace the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in accordance with Israel’s orientations and desires.

This is not an easy price that Netanyahu seeks to reap during the visit, while extracting a veiled decision to return to war. Hence, we were not surprised yesterday by his statements that he made after the completion of the fourth installment of the first stage of the exchange deal, by claiming that he was keen to complete the exchange deal until the release of the last detainee, and in fact he does not want that, as the Israeli street testifies.

Will Netanyahu succeed in his efforts and maneuvers, as he did throughout the previous period with the elderly Biden, or will Trump (the former wrestler) stop him with a knockout blow, and preserve the ceasefire and the exchange deal from the tampering of those who tamper with it?