Defense officials confirmed on Sunday that opportunities to strike Hamas military wing operatives had been missed over the past week because of government policy.
The IDF increased the pace of its strikes over the past two weeks, with the number of fatalities rising accordingly, before restricting them under a new policy, following a series of targeted killings across the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire took effect, which, according to IDF statistics, resulted in the deaths of around 500 terrorists.
Defense officials confirmed on Sunday that opportunities to strike Hamas's military wing operatives had been missed over the past week because of government policy.
However, senior political officials told Walla on Monday that "This is a complete lie. The IDF did not bring a single targeted killing for approval over the past week."
Hamas's leadership, based in Qatar and Turkey, exerted pressure on Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and other countries, including the Board of Peace, which in turn pressured the White House to halt the targeted killings.
Officials in Jerusalem instructed the IDF to scale back the operations, but even this failed to satisfy the Americans, and the targeted killings were completely halted this week.
The situation in the Gaza Strip, with the IDF operating in the area with its hands tied on one side, while the Board of Peace accelerates efforts to rebuild Gaza without Hamas having disarmed on the other, has drawn criticism from within the defense establishment.
Apparently in response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided toaddress the issue at the opening of the government meeting in an effort to push back against the criticism.
"Israel rejects the 15-point document. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will continue to eliminate threats against our forces and our citizens.
"And when I say disarming Hamas, that means the heavy weapons, the less heavy weapons, all the weapons. And we are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament. We are now discussing this issue with the Americans," Netanyahu added.
In practice, however, defense officials point to several developments without which they say Netanyahu's remarks would be meaningless.
According to defense officials, the prime minister must prevent the national force from entering the Gaza Strip because it could introduce foreign influences that would be harmful to Israel. Hamas could exploit those influences to normalize and consolidate its rule, while hiding behind the process, on Turkish advice, in order to avoid disarming.
The officials also believe the technocratic committee should be prevented from entering the Gaza Strip. According to IDF assessments, Hamas could eventually take control of the committee and manipulate it with considerable sophistication.
They further argue that the IDF must not withdraw from the Yellow Line, but should remain in its current positions in order to increase pressure on Hamas.
Above all, most officials agree that Israel should resume strikes against Hamas operatives and field commanders.