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Israel opposition: Hamas has won the media war

May 21, 2021 at 11:45 am

Yair Lapid during the final stage of Blue and White election campaign in Tel Aviv, 15 September 2019 [Faiz Abu Rmeleh/Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli government has failed in its bombing campaign of Gaza, head of the Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, said on Facebook.

“This government has failed to fulfil all responsibilities entrusted to it. It has failed to carry out the house fortification project and miserably failed in communicating its message through the media. There are simply no words to describe this failure.”

Lapid, who is tasked with forming a new government following the March election, added that Hamas, which he described as a “fanatical, murderous and racist terror organization”, has defeated the Israeli government in the liberal Western media battle.

He continued: “The government failed when it preferred to preserve Hamas’s rule in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority.”

Lapid stated: “After 11 days of the military operation, any Israeli citizen will ask himself: What did the government want to achieve by launching the military operation? What kind of policy and long-term strategic objective the does the government want to establish in confrontation with Hamas in Gaza? What should happen there? Will the current military operation prevent the upcoming round?”

The Israeli official called on Netanyahu to heed Biden’s request for a ceasefire saying: “At the beginning of the military operation, President Biden granted full and justified support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens. After 11 days, the US President requested an end to the military operation after the Israeli army had achieved its goals and Israel cannot ignore this demand. We have more pressing challenges than Gaza; Iran, the nuclear deal, the tension in Syria and the growing influence of Hezbollah. All these issues are still waiting to be solved, and in order to face all of them, we will need to maintain close and tight coordination with the Americans.”

READ: Has Gaza changed the world’s perspective of Palestine-Israel? 

He added: “Hamas must be weakened at the military and civilian scales. At the military level, Israel must direct ruthless strikes any time Hamas tries to act, in addition to applying a zero-tolerance policy against the movement, including the assassination of its leaders. At the political level, constant pressure must be exerted on it through cooperation with the local population.”

Lapid explained: “We have to create a situation in which the people of Gaza have something to lose. The model is Lebanon. The main reason behind Hezbollah’s caution not to engage in a direct confrontation with us is the fact that in the second Lebanon war we attacked the infrastructure of Lebanon without mercy. Nasrallah knows that if they confront us, the Beirut port, airports, local industry and business centres will turn into clouds of dust and fire. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is not only a terrorist organization but also a political movement, which means that they do not want the entire population of Lebanon to turn against them because of a devastating confrontation with Israel. A similar model should be implemented in Gaza as well. ”

ceasefire took hold over Gaza at 2am local time (11pm GMT). No conditions were set for the truce, according to reports.