Netanyahu’s Strategy of Fear: Escalating War to Maintain Power

By Elijah J. Magnier:

While the seven-step prisoner exchange process of phase one has been completed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using the recent bombings in Tel Aviv as an excuse to intensify military aggression in the West Bank and slow down the Gaza ceasefire agreement. In fact, Netanyahu is deliberately obstructing the implementation of the humanitarian protocol outlined in phase one, which calls for Israel’s withdrawal from most of Gaza and the entry of 60,000 prefabricated houses and 200,000 tents to house displaced Palestinians.

The discovery of several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – some successfully detonated, others defused – exposes a major Israeli intelligence failure and marks a dangerous return to the violence of the pre-Oslo era, when Palestinian resistance groups routinely carried out attacks inside Israel in response to occupation and systematic oppression. Instead of addressing the root causes of Palestinian resistance, Netanyahu is using these incidents as an excuse to delay the start of Phase Two, further entrenching Israel’s occupation and humanitarian blockade of Gaza.