JERUSALEM (AP) — Disagreements are emerging among senior Israeli officials over how to handle the war against Hamas in Gaza. A member of the country’s war cabinet expressed doubts about the hostage release strategy, and the country’s prime minister rejected calls from the United States to scale back its offensive.

Only a ceasefire agreement can achieve the release of dozens of hostages still held by Islamist militants in Gaza, and claims that they could be freed by other means are spreading “illusions,” said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of four members the War Cabinet, in its first public statements about the course of the war.

Eisenkot’s comments late Thursday were the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israel’s offensive against Hamas, now in its fourth month.

Triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 250 others were taken hostage, the Israeli attack has affected much of the Gaza Strip, home to about 2.3 million people live, pulverized. Israel says there are more than 130 hostages still in the Gaza Strip, but not all of them are believed to be alive.

The Israeli offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 80% of the territory’s population, according to Gaza health authorities.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Friday that 142 people were killed and 278 people were injured the previous day, bringing the total death toll since October 7 to 24,762. and the total number of wounded was 62,108.

Israel has also cut off all but a fraction of supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip, including food, water and fuel. Several dozen trucks carrying vital supplies now enter the area every day, just a fraction of the prewar volume of about 500 trucks. Both the United States and the United Nations have said more aid needs to be provided.

The communications blackout in the area entered its seventh time on Friday, the longest such outage since the start of the war. The lack of communication makes it difficult to coordinate aid deliveries and rescue efforts.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has provided strong military and political support for the campaign but is increasingly calling on Israel to limit its aggression and take steps to establish a Palestinian state after the war – a proposal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has firmly rejected.

During a nationally televised news conference on Thursday, Netanyahu reiterated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution and argued that a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

Israel “must have security control over the entire area west of the Jordan,” Netanyahu said, adding: “This clashes with the idea of ​​sovereignty. What can we do?”

The US has said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be “revived” and return to Gaza. In 2007, Hamas ousted authority from Gaza.

Washington has also called for steps to establish a Palestinian state. Palestinians seek Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem for their state. These areas were conquered by Israel in 1967.

Speaking Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said the two-state solution was the best way to protect Israel, unite moderate Arab countries and isolate Israel’s arch-enemy Iran. He said Israel would not have “real security” without a path to a Palestinian state.

At the same conference, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the kingdom was ready to establish comprehensive relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. “But that can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state,” he said.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the Palestinian Authority, said late Thursday that without a Palestinian state there can be “no security and stability in the region.”

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said fighting would continue until Hamas was crushed, arguing that only military action could secure the release of the hostages.

Hamas wants an end to the war before discussing the release of hostages and has demanded the release of thousands of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in exchange for those held in Gaza.

Given the slow pace of the offensive and growing international criticism, including genocide allegations at the United Nations World Court that Israel vehemently denies, commentators have begun to question whether Netanyahu’s goals are realistic.

Netanyahu’s opponents accuse him of delaying any discussion of post-war scenarios to avoid looming investigations into government failures, keep his coalition intact and postpone elections. Polls show that the popularity of Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, fell sharply during the war.

Eisenkot, whose son was killed in Gaza in December, told Israel’s Channel 12 television’s investigative program “Uvda” late Thursday that “the hostages will only return alive if there is an agreement that involves a significant lull in fighting.” .” He said dramatic rescue operations were unlikely because the hostages appeared to be scattered, many of them in underground tunnels.

To suggest that hostages could be released by any means other than a deal “is to spread illusions,” he said.

In a thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahu, Eisenkot also said that strategic decisions about the direction of the war needed to be made urgently and that discussion about an endgame should have begun immediately after the war began.

He also rejected claims that the military had dealt a decisive blow to Hamas.

Gallant said troops had knocked out the Hamas command structure in the northern Gaza Strip, from which significant numbers of troops were withdrawn earlier in the week, and that the focus was now on the southern half of the territory.

“We have not yet achieved strategic success, or rather only partially,” said Eisenkot. “We did not overthrow Hamas.”

The militant group continued to fight across the Gaza Strip, even in the most devastated areas, and fired rockets into Israel.

The former army chief said he was considering every day whether he should remain in the War Cabinet, which includes Netanyahu, Gallant and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Eisenkot is a member of parliament for the National Unity opposition alliance led by Gantz. Both joined Netanyahu in waging war.

“I know my red line,” Eisenkot said when asked when he would quit. “It is related to the hostages, that is one of the objectives, but it is also related to the way we have to fight this war.”

The war has spread across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking U.S. and Israeli targets. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon threatens to erupt into all-out war, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to attack international shipping despite US-led airstrikes.

The United States carried out a fifth strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Thursday, even as President Joe Biden acknowledged that the militants’ bombardment had not yet stopped their attacks on ships in the key Red Sea corridor.

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Jobain reported from Rafah, the Gaza Strip and Mroue reported from Beirut.