IDF Limits Targeted Killings in Gaza Strip
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip have received a new directive to conduct attacks only to eliminate immediate threats. Targeted killings now require the approval of the Chief of Staff and the political echelon.
After senior IDF officials claimed yesterday that they "did not receive an instruction to cease fire," forces in the Gaza Strip received a new instruction on Tuesday: from now on, only attacks to remove immediate threats are to be carried out. Targeted killings will be carried out only with the approval of the Chief of Staff and the political echelon.
The attack on a vehicle last night in Gaza, in which two deaths were reported, occurred after a day in which the IDF did not attack in the Strip. In the background is the conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the CEO of the Peace Council, Nickolay Mladenov, in which the latter requested to stop the attacks for two weeks to allow for the completion of reaching agreements with Hamas. Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey published a joint condemnation afterwards against what they called "the ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip," and called for pressure to be exerted on Israel to "fulfill its obligations."
Behind the scenes, there is another dispute, besides the issue of the attacks: whether Israel should withdraw as part of the agreement with Hamas, and where to. The agreement with Hamas is about a gradual process of dismantling it and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip of weapons - alongside a full Israeli withdrawal from the Strip. The process is supposed to take place in stages, with the IDF initially supposed to withdraw back to the yellow line determined in the first hostage deal - after the army has since captured more and more areas, up to control of about 70% of the Strip's area.
A political source said yesterday that "Israel will not withdraw from the current line in the Gaza Strip, and will continue to thwart any threat to our citizens and soldiers." The announcement was made shortly after the statement by ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Strock, to which Netanyahu did not officially respond, according to which false information was presented to the cabinet regarding the plan for Gaza.
According to ministers in the cabinet, "the 'roadmap' talks about a gradual withdrawal. The Israeli position was that we start withdrawing only when Hamas disarms, and now they say that every time Hamas disarms from part of its weapons we have to withdraw a little. All the disarmament is fake. There is no disarmament, but rather its transfer to Palestinian hands, and they will act according to the Palestinian law that applies in Ramallah."
