Hamas has Rebuilt Forces to Over 25,000 Fighters
A group of Zionist Knesset members (MKs) said on 16 March that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have “restored their military strength” in Gaza and that the occupatiuon military has failed to achieve its war goals amid stalled ceasefire negotiations, Zionist newspaper Walla reported.
“In recent days, we have been informed that the military strength of Hamas and Islamic Jihad has been restored, such that Hamas has over 25,000 and Islamic Jihad has over 5,000 armed terrorists,” stated the Knesset members.
The MKs, including opposition members of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, made the claim in a petition they sent calling for an urgent committee hearing with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and War Minister Israel Katz.
A committee hearing is necessary due to the “failure to achieve the war’s goals and the harm to security and national interests.”
MKs Gadi Eisenkot, Ram Ben Barak, Meir Cohen, Elazar Stern, Moshe Tor Paz, Sharon Nir, and Merv Michaeli signed the petition.
“In the past month, the ‘Israeli’ government has not fulfilled its responsibility as the supreme commander of the IDF, and is not advancing the war goals of returning the kidnapped and destroying Hamas’ military and governmental power,” the petition stated.
The MKs further claimed that Netanyahu and his ministers are acting in violation of war cabinet decisions to “realize the goal of returning the abductees” and to immediately conscript ultra-Orthodox Jewish men studying the Torah in religious schools known as Yeshivas.
Efforts to exchange Zionist captives in Gaza for Palestinians in occupation prisons have stalled in recent weeks, with the regime refusing to move to the next phase of a ceasefire agreement reached with the Palestinian resistance in January.
Late on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Zionist negotiators to continue the negotiations based on a proposal by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that calls for the “immediate release of 11 living hostages and half of the deceased hostages.”
Earlier, Hamas said it was ready to accept a previous proposal from US envoy Adam Boehler, which called for the release of a living Zionist-US soldier, Edan Alexander, along with the bodies of four other dual-US citizens in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
After Boehler held direct talks with Hamas officials, occupation leaders became angry, and President Donald Trump removed him from his position.
Hamas is seeking a permanent end to the war, a complete Zionist withdrawal from Gaza, the reopening of border crossings for aid, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The regime is seeking to extend the first phase until mid-April and insists that any transition to the second phase must include “the total demilitarization” of Gaza.
Despite the existing ceasefire, the Zionist military continues to conduct near-daily air strikes in Gaza.
On Saturday, Zionist airstrikes in the city of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza killed nine people, including aid workers and Palestinian journalists. Four young Palestinian boys were killed by an Israeli drone strike while scavenging for firewood on Friday.
source: The Cradle