Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman alleged on Wednesday that dozens of Hamas Nukhba terrorists recently conducted a simulated assault on an Israeli community in Gaza, claiming military commanders sought authorization to eliminate the operatives but were blocked by Israel’s political leadership.
According to Lieberman, roughly 50 members of Hamas’ elite Nukhba force participated in a training drill inside the Gaza Strip earlier this week, rehearsing the invasion and capture of a Jewish town.
He said commanders on the ground requested immediate approval to attack the terrorists during the exercise, but were instructed not to take any action.
Lieberman’s remarks followed a Channel 12 News report Tuesday night stating that the IDF detected unusual terrorist activity near the Gaza border that sparked concerns militants were preparing to cross the Yellow Line. The report said the military increased its level of readiness and deployed additional forces to the border area but refrained from striking after receiving instructions from the political echelon.
“The night before last, IDF forces identified a training exercise by approximately 50 Nukhba Force terrorists who were practicing a raid and takeover of a Jewish community,” he revealed. “IDF commanders in the field requested immediate action to carry out a targeted elimination of all the terrorists, but the political echelon’s instruction was: ‘You don’t touch a single one of them. You don’t even fire a single blank.'”
“This is surrender to terrorism and a return to the policy of containment and the conception that led to October 7,” he warned.
Lieberman said he toured communities surrounding Gaza on Wednesday, including Kerem Shalom, the site of what he described as a newly established American base near the crossing, as well as Kibbutz Be’eri, where he met with local security officials.
“What I saw and heard is extremely concerning, and I want to inform members of the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet of several details that the Prime Minister is hiding from them and from the public,” he wrote.
Lieberman also alleged that Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu approved an arrangement negotiated between Board of Peace Director-General Nikolay Mladenov and Hamas under which the Board of Peace would distribute $400 million to suppliers and service providers using lists supplied by Hamas.
He further claimed that the agreement calls for approximately 40 percent of those funds—about $160 million—to be funneled back in cash to Hamas’ military wing.
Lieberman additionally asserted that the IDF has effectively completed its withdrawal from forward positions in Gaza, with troops now stationed only along a line of military outposts. “In the entire area between the line of posts – the Purple Line – and the yellow concrete barriers – the Yellow Line – not a single soldier remains.”
He also argued that the government’s decision to leave the yellow concrete barriers in place is merely a political distraction, claiming that despite their presence, Israeli forces no longer maintain any operational presence between the military outposts and the Yellow Line.
Turning to the role of the United States, Lieberman contended that the recent visit by the commander of CENTCOM to the American base in southern Israel illustrates how Israeli military decision-making has become dependent on Washington. “To move even a pin, American approval is required,” he blasted.
{Matzav.com}
