Former Israeli general says Gaza war could have ended earlier
A former head of the Israeli army’s Hostages and Missing Persons Command says Israel prolonged the war on Gaza unnecessarily and could have brought some captives home alive through earlier negotiations.
Major General Nitzan Alon said that after 7 October , Israel “conducted a long war that could have ended at least a year earlier,” adding that some captives could have “been returned alive.”
“Strategically, we could have achieved the same results or avoided failing to achieve those we did not achieve – such as disarming Hamas, and so on. We paid a heavy price in soldiers killed, perhaps even some hostages killed, immense costs in blood and money that were not necessary,” Alon said.
Alon also criticised Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, saying he was “the one who opposed some of the agreements at various stages and I do not think he can take credit for the return of all the hostages.”
“The cabinet and the political leadership rejected earlier comprehensive deals – in the name of that same 'total victory,' which is a falsehood" he said.
“Strategically conducting a war for more than two years until the American administration forced its end – this was not the optimal path given the price we paid.”
Alon also accused the Israeli government of creating an “irreversible reality of population mixing, outposts, settlements, farm” in the occupied West Bank as part of a “long-term plan” that would “not permit Palestinian territorial continuity.”
He said violent hilltop youth had effectively been given the role of soldiers and even “singificant roles in the government”, describing this as Israel’s use of “militias and other proxy forces” in the occupied West Bank.
Alon added that he was “not convinced that buffer zones will provide long-term security for Israel,” referring to Gaza and Lebanon.