JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of seeking to prolong the Gaza war until elections.

Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party, said internal pressure will be directed at Netanyahu after the hostages taken by Hamas in October 2023 are returned and the war ends.

"Netanyahu wants to prolong the war until the elections,” Lieberman told Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.

The former minister did not specify whether he meant elections after Netanyahu’s term ends in December 2026 or early polls that might take place at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026.

"It is not possible to eliminate Hamas without first returning all the hostages (in Gaza) at once,” he added.

Indirect negotiations started on July 6 in the Qatari capital, Doha, to reach an agreement that includes a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel.

A source close to Hamas told Anadolu that the group received updated maps from mediators showing areas across Gaza still under Israeli control and began internal consultations to evaluate the maps.

The Israeli army has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave, making it uninhabitable.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.