Marathon meetings between Israeli politicians and officials in the military establishment have failed to resolve the differences of opinion over the ways to crack down on the Palestinians, Israeli media revealed on Monday.
The Times of Israel cited Hebrew-language media as saying that Israel is considering a military operation in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. The latter would focus on the city of Jenin.
Hebrew Channel 13: Defense Minister Gantz, with the support of the Israeli army and the Shin Bet, preferred a military operation in Jenin, while President Bennett pressed for a military operation against Gaza.
— Jupiter 🌍 (@Jupiter4590) May 9, 2022
According to the newspaper, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wants a military operation in the Gaza Strip. Defense Minister Benny Gantz, however, wants a wide-scale arrest and detention operation in and around Jenin.
Gantz is the former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). IDF and Shin Bet security officers apparently share Gantz’s opinion and are against Bennett’s plan to attack Gaza, Channel 13 News has reported.
The discussions have been held following a number of Palestinian resistance attacks against the Israeli occupation. Over the past fifty days, 19 Israelis have been killed in such attacks across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Israeli forces, meanwhile, have killed 50 Palestinians in what amount to extrajudicial executions since the start of this year.
assassination or a military operation in the #Gaza Strip, but it might do so in the West Bank.
Naftali Bennett is too weak to carry out a military operation against the #Gaza Strip.
end/— Palestine News 24/7 (@PaliNewsBot) May 7, 2022
A military operation in Jenin is likely to focus on the detention of a large number of Palestinians from the city and its neighboring villages. Other towns and cities across the West Bank will also be affected by the Israeli show of force.
However, the potential operation in Gaza would target Hamas officials, especially the movement’s leader in the Strip, Yahya Al-Sinwar, who is said to be inciting the Palestinians to carry out resistance attacks.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
