Jerusalem
CNN
—

In subtle but increasingly vocal ways, Israel’s military leaders are signaling that the country has achieved all it can militarily in Lebanon and Gaza, and that it is time for the politicians to reach a deal.

It comes as Lebanon’s prime minister says a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent. Both candidates for the US presidency have also made it clear that they do not want wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be on the agenda when they take office.

When the Israeli army’s top general sat down with officers in northern Gaza – carrying out one of the army’s fiercest operations since last year’s invasion – he went further than ever by suggesting that the military phases of both conflicts should end.

“In the north there is a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion,” said Herzi Halevi, chief of the general staff, referring to the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Gaza, he said, “it will be a new collapse if we eliminate the commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade…. I don’t know what we will face tomorrow, but this pressure brings us closer to more achievements.”

What those achievements should be is the subject of much consternation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised an “absolute victory.” His defense minister and longtime political tormentor Yoav Gallant has committed himself to that goal. In August, he told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the idea of ​​an “absolute victory” in Gaza was “nonsense,” according to Israeli media.

Gallant’s vague view of Netanyahu’s war aim became official when he reportedly sent a private memo to the prime minister and the rest of his cabinet earlier this week saying the war had lost its way.

“The current situation in which we operate, without a valid compass and without updated war objectives, undermines the management of the campaign and cabinet decisions,” Gallant wrote, according to Israel’s Channel 13, an affiliate of CNN.

In Gaza, he wrote, Israel must secure the release of the remaining hostages, ensure there is no military threat from Hamas and promote civilian rule. That is a far cry from the existing, maximalist war goal of eliminating Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.

CNN asked the Israeli Ministry of Defense for comment on the memo. A spokesperson for the prime minister declined to comment.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday he is optimistic about a possible ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel “within the coming hours or days”, after a conversation with US envoy Amos Hochstein, who arrived in the region on Thursday.

Israel has carried out a massive, nationwide bombing campaign in Lebanon over the past month, killing Hezbollah’s elusive leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In his interview, Mikati indicated that Hezbollah no longer insists that the conflict with Israel will only end once the war in Gaza is over. That would allow the country to accept a ceasefire without ending the Gaza campaign.

“There is a desire right now to end the war in Lebanon while we are in the lead,” a person familiar with the Israeli government’s thinking told CNN.

Gallant has said that Hamas and Hezbollah have now become completely ineffective as Iranian proxies.

“These two organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, which for years were groomed as long arm against the State of Israel, are no longer an effective tool in the hands of Iran,” Gallant said during a memorial service on Sunday. “We know that some goals cannot be achieved through military action alone, and that is why we must fulfill our moral obligations to bring our prisoners home, despite the painful compromises that entail.”

And yet Netanyahu has remained defiant. As the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, returned from recess this week, the prime minister appeared to reiterate his maximalist goal and signaled he was unlikely to accept a conclusion anytime soon: “Absolute victory is an orderly and consistent work plan that we will fulfill step by step. step by step,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect negotiations in Qatar for the first time in two months. Netanyahu’s office said on Monday that if a limited proposal – a short ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages – were offered, “the prime minister would accept it on the spot.” However, a source familiar with the talks told CNN that Netanyahu continues to refuse to provide concrete guarantees on a path to a larger deal to end the war.

“The main war objective has not yet been achieved, which is to return the hostages,” another official familiar with the talks told CNN. “Gaza will only end when the hostages are home.”