March 07, 2025
By Nasser Kandil
• U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened the people of Gaza with an impending inferno unless all prisoners are released immediately. He declared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has enough firepower to complete the mission. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is rallying his inner circle, brandishing the specter of war, as his army chief ominously warns that “hell is coming”.
• At the same time, key figures in Trump’s administration speak of an open door for negotiations, using threats as leverage. Meanwhile, efforts to revive the ceasefire agreement are gaining momentum, with calls to end the war and ensure a full withdrawal from Gaza as stipulated in the deal, securing the return of all captives. Protests and demonstrations are swelling, opposition voices are growing louder, and tensions ran high in the Knesset two days ago, where fierce verbal clashes erupted between Netanyahu’s supporters and his detractors.
• Gaza’s position is clear: it will not allow war threats to achieve what military force has already failed to accomplish. The people are prepared to endure again to ensure both an end to the war and a full withdrawal – demands that are national, not partisan. There will be no release of prisoners without guarantees that war will not resume. The people and the resistance stand as one.
• Netanyahu’s options are narrowing, and Trump has placed the burden squarely on his shoulders. If Netanyahu resumes the war, there is no guarantee that more captives, perhaps all of them, won’t be killed, eliminating any chance of bringing them home alive. This would be a severe crisis domestically. Meanwhile, the Israeli army lacks both the fighting spirit and the operational effectiveness to achieve victories, it is exhausted and stretched thin. In contrast, the resistance has reorganised its ranks and will not allow Israeli forces to advance unchallenged. It will fiercely defend Gaza’s frontlines, evoking the battles of South Lebanon’s forward villages. If that happens, the illusion of the Israeli army’s dominance will collapse entirely – a risk that Netanyahu and his military commanders deeply fear.
• Netanyahu’s predicament is clear: if he proceeds with the second phase of the ceasefire deal, complete withdrawal and an end to the war, he risks losing his coalition’s unity and possibly his government itself.
• Netanyahu, and behind him Trump, are trapped in a dilemma. Gaza, however, stands ready for all scenarios.
