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Gaza-linked election debate
Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan, speaking at the National Security Conference hosted by ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth in partnership with the Institute for National Security Studies, said Hamas cannot be defeated as long as it continues to rule the enclave’s 2 million residents.
“Hamas cannot be defeated as long as it continues to rule the enclave’s 2 million residents”
Golan argued that “Every day that passes while Hamas remains in power, Hamas grows stronger,” adding that it “collects taxes, rebuilds its force and digs tunnels again.”
He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of dragging his feet and blocking progress toward establishing an alternative governing authority in Gaza, while calling for “another moderate Palestinian governing entity” with regional and international actors.
In the same conference context, Golan also framed the broader security debate by calling for an Israeli initiative in Lebanon under which a new international force with enforcement powers would be deployed in the south of the country instead of UNIFIL.
Golan’s remarks came as he also said, “If we receive 15 seats, then I also believe I will be defense minister,” tying his party’s electoral prospects to the next government’s security direction.
“Jewish terrorism” and West Bank
Yair Golan told Anadolu Ajansı that Israeli troops were paying the price for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “reckless” policies, two days after Israeli occupiers under army protection attacked the Palestinian town of Tal near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Golan said the Netanyahu-Bezalel Smotrich-Itamar Ben-Gvir government was “abandoning Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank,” and he warned in a post on X that Netanyahu’s government was turning the occupied West Bank into a “powder keg.”
The Anadolu Ajansı account said that on Friday Israeli occupiers backed by the army attacked the Palestinian town of Tal, killing four Palestinians, and that two Israelis were also killed in a shooting during the confrontation, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
It also reported that Israeli forces imposed a siege on Nablus and surrounding towns, conducted mass arrest raids, and announced preparations for a wide-scale military operation across the occupied West Bank.
An Al Jazeera Net report tied the same “Jewish terrorism” dispute to the National Security Conference in Tel Aviv, saying Golan warned it threatens to set the region alight and accused the government of losing control with the spread of illegal settlement outposts.
Calls for Trump intervention
Euronews reported that about 600 senior former Israeli officials from the army, Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Foreign Ministry called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene urgently to stop what they described as terrorist acts carried out by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“about 600 senior former Israeli officials from the army, Mossad, Shin Bet”
The letter, sent to the White House on the eve of Trump’s anticipated meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urged the U.S. president to intervene personally and pressure Israel to stop the violence, warning that no one else can prevent what they described as the catastrophe.
In a separate account, Al-Quds said the letter was addressed to the White House and to American officials including Jared Kushner and Steve Weitzkov, and it quoted the signatories: “You alone can prevent this catastrophe. We hope you will convey a strong and clear message.”
Al-Quds also said the warnings reflected a view that the continued deepening of extremist settler groups, intertwined with the occupation government’s policies, could open the door to a broader eruption in the West Bank and create a long-term front of attrition.
Euronews further reported that the former officials linked continued settler violence to policies they said aim to choke the Palestinian Authority economically and by other means, warning that continuing on this path could undermine Israel’s security and destabilize the entire region.
