Yedioth Ahronoth: Israel’s Chief of Staff warned Netanyahu that expanding the ground military operation in the Gaza Strip could lead to the loss of prisoners held by Hamas
Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several cabinet ministers that expanding the ground operation in the Gaza Strip could lead to the loss of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.
Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday that Zamir told Netanyahu and other ministers that there is a problem in combining the two main objectives of the war—eliminating Hamas and recovering the prisoners—because both could conflict at the moment of making decisions on the ground.
Zamir added, “You have to take into account that if we carry out a large-scale ground maneuver, we might lose prisoners”.
Yedioth Ahronoth noted clear disagreements between the Israeli political and military leadership regarding the war’s priorities and objectives.
In response to these statements, the families of the Israeli prisoners held in Gaza said, “We cannot speak of an Israeli victory without the return of all the prisoners, and their loss would mean a national loss”.
The families added, “National and social security depend on the release of all prisoners”.
