Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu wants a ‘forever war’, alleges Opposition leader Lapid

Israeli Opposition leader Yair Lapid has claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants a 'forever war' as the prime minister refused to budge on his position to reach a compromise on the hostage-truce deal with Hamas.

Speaking to his party members during a faction meeting in the Knesset,Lapid said Netanyahu spoke so much about the Philadelphi Corridor that everyone forgot what he said three times.

“He [Netanyahu] said: ‘The war must not end.’”

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“What Netanyahu is saying, what his cabinet is telling us, is that we are in a new version of Lebanon. It took us 18 years to leave Lebanon [and] they are offering us the same thing: years of war, years of economic crisis, years of destruction and fear and violence. This is what the government is offering us. A war that will go on and on. A forever war that has and will never have an end date,” Lapid declared.

Lapid said the Netanyahu administration preferred war as they did not want to lose their power and that they did not know how to get the economy 'back on track'.

“We have big tasks ahead of us. Establish a regional coalition with the Saudis and the Americans against the Iranian threat. Get the economy back on track before it crashes. To rebuild the army in the face of the threats we face,” he added.

Watch |Israel-Hamas War: Protests in Israel after Hostages' Killing

Prior toLapid's attack,State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel, Matanyahu Englman, also blamed Netanyahu's office for impeding inquiries into the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 last year.

What did Netanyahu say?

Speaking for the first time on Monday after six Israeli hostages were found dead in the Gaza tunnel, Netanyahu sought forgiveness from the families but made it clear he would not alter his position on the deal.

"The achievement of the war's objectives goes through the Philadelphi Corridor... Control of the Philadelphi axis guarantees that the hostages will not be smuggled out of Gaza," he said during a press conference, referring to a narrow 14.5-km-long stretch of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The Israeli PM claims that leaving the Philadelphi Corridor would enable Hamas to spirit the hostages to Iran.

Meanwhile, public anger has steadily increased since the incident. Families of killed Israeli hostages protested outside the headquarters of the right-wing Likud Party on Wednesday (Sep 4) to mount pressure on Netanyahu and his cabinet to work towards freeing their loved ones.

(With inputs from agencies)