Israel: Tensions appear between govt and IDF as army says Hamas cannot be eliminated
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00:00The goals of Israel's offensive in Gaza were twofold, one to bring at home hostages alive
00:06and eliminate Hamas. Now, the IDF spokesperson says the latter cannot be achieved. Daniel Hagari
00:13escalating his feud with the Prime Minister when he said, and I quote,
00:16whoever thinks we can eliminate Hamas is mistaken. Take a listen.
00:22Hamas is an ideology. It's rooted in the hearts of the people of Gaza. To eliminate it,
00:28to replace those who run the public services, those who distribute food or steal it,
00:33there must be an alternative that can emerge. It's a decision that has to be taken politically,
00:39and the army will implement it. Until it is, Hamas will continue to exist. Hamas will not
00:44disappear from Gaza. It will not disappear. We can now go across to France 24's Iris
00:50Mackler standing by in Jerusalem. Iris, this isn't the first time we've heard a statement
00:55like that. We've had it from the French President Emmanuel Macron, but now it's being made
00:59from the IDF spokesperson. How is Hagari's statement being viewed where you are?
01:04I think it's being seen as part of the war, if you like, between Israel's politicians and its
01:10military. There's been criticism of the politicians for some time because what they have been saying
01:17is that they're not looking at the day after in Gaza. There's been that criticism from Washington.
01:22There's been that criticism from the opposition leader who was in the government and left because
01:26there was no plan for the day after. Now we're hearing that criticism from the military. I think
01:31the military is doing this because there's been a lot of criticism of it from right-wing members
01:37of this government. It's positioning itself so that it isn't the one who's going to be blamed
01:43if this war does not end successfully. We've heard criticisms from ministers in the government,
01:50open criticism of the leader of the military, of the military chief of staff. We've heard
01:54criticism from the Prime Minister's son who's based in Miami but manages to tweet and post on
02:00social media internationally. So that's the trend and I think what you're now seeing is the gloves
02:06coming off and the military returning the fight to the politicians and saying we, the military,
02:15have accepted some responsibility for the events of October the 7th. The politicians have not yet.
02:20The politicians haven't given us a guide for what's going to happen afterwards in Gaza
02:25and as I've heard one military expert say, if you don't know where you're going, you go nowhere.
02:30Interesting, interesting that after eight months people, the military is thinking of what comes
02:34next and the politicians are so divided on the issue. Another thing, story that's brewing where
02:39you are, Eris is of course Hezbollah's chief that has responded after Israel said its plans
02:45to go after the group have been approved. Take a listen to what Hassan Nasrallah had to say.
02:51Israel knows that no place will be safe from our missiles and our drones
02:55and our strikes are not indiscriminate. Israel knows that we have a list of targets
03:03and we have the ability to reach these targets and we will shake the foundations of Israel.
03:09Eris, Hassan Nasrallah really upping the ante with that statement. That of course statement
03:14comes in the aftermath of Israel saying its plans have been approved and validated to go after the
03:20group in Lebanon. I want to ask you, Eris, we've had a conflict in Gaza that has gone on for over
03:26eight months now. It's still not over yet. Hostages remain inside Gaza, let's not forget.
03:34Does anyone have an appetite where you are to go after Hezbollah in Lebanon now?
03:39That's a very interesting question because the people, I want to remind everyone that what we
03:44have seen over the past eight months while we've been focusing on the war in Gaza is a conflict
03:50in the north of Israel, in the south of Lebanon that has seen tens of thousands of people on both
03:55sides, not in their homes, displaced in their own countries. You know, I've seen on the Israeli side
04:02a few farmers who have stayed to look after their chickens and their apple trees and they just have
04:07to throw themselves onto the ground whenever there's incoming. It's a very difficult situation
04:12and I think that's part of the reason that is motivating the Israelis who do want,
04:17who do accept that there will have to be a fight, a second fight, a second front in Lebanon. However,
04:23you know, it's problematic for both countries. Let's look at Israel. I've heard from a number
04:28of military sources that it's simply, Israel simply doesn't have at the moment enough ammunition for
04:34the kind of fight that Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was talking about there. That's a big, serious
04:40fight, you know, taking out Israel's power stations, taking out all its other, or many of
04:45its other important bases. Israel doing the same in Lebanon. Let's not forget, Lebanon is not Hezbollah.
04:51Lebanese people don't necessarily want this war either. So what you see is two enemies pulling
04:58each other closer and closer to align a point of no return, which they haven't yet reached,
05:04Delano, but you know, there's no guarantees that they won't.