It’s only Tuesday, and already Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had one of the worst weeks since the war against Hamas started last October. Israelis are losing patience with him and his band of self-serving extremist ministers. Netanyahu, whose approval rates were low before the war and have only got lower since it started, is feeling the squeeze.

Last night, in the single most deadly incident since the start of the war, 21 Israeli soldiers were killed when buildings collapsed on them following an RPG grenade attack by Hamas in the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. Three soldiers were also killed in a separate earlier incident in the city, bringing the total of casualties yesterday to 24.

Israel is a nation in mourning. Each day brings more casualties, and with them more widows and widowers

Also yesterday, several families of hostages still being held in Gaza stormed the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and disrupted a finance committee meeting. They were chanting ‘release them now, now, now’. The clock is ticking for these 136 hostages, who have been captive now for over 100 days. Some have already been killed in captivity, others are wounded or sick. There are reports of hostages suffering sexual abuse, starvation, torture, with some even held in cages.

Their families, understandably, are prioritising their return over military achievements right now – as are the majority of Israelis. Thousands took to the streets last Saturday, conjuring memories of the mass anti-government demonstrations that happened on a weekly basis after Netanyahu’s government was sworn in in December 2022 but which stopped when the war started.

Angry protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya and outside Netanyahu’s family home in Caesarea. They were calling for a deal to be made for the return of hostages. Many others were demanding national elections.

Despite his refusal to accept any responsibility for Hamas’s successful attack in October, Israelis hold Netanyahu fully accountable for the failure to foresee the attack. They also blame him for the army’s lack of preparedness and slow response, and for the many years in which he purposely strengthened Hamas because he wanted to rule out the prospect of a Palestinian state being established.

The rage being felt across Israel is now being compounded by concerns that the war’s stated goals may not be realistic. Although Netanyahu keeps repeating the same mantra – that Israel will carry on until total victory – Israelis have doubts that this can be done.

The war is now in its fourth month, and despite their heavy-handed response, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have so far killed only an estimated third of Hamas’s forces. The organisation’s array of tunnels has turned out to be considerably more extensive than Israel believed them to be, and the army has no pre-existing intelligence to rely on. They are having to search for tunnels and entry points themselves – a slow and dangerous endeavour that may never lead to the complete destruction of all the tunnels.

Despite the difficulties, the IDF have still compromised Hamas’s abilities. The terror group operates in small teams of two to three people. There is little communications and coordination between these teams. Many of the middle ranking officers have been eliminated so Hamas is suffering from a lack of leadership. Their ability to fire long range missiles has also been effectively disabled.

However, their resolve is still strong. The infrastructure Hamas built and weapons cache they have accumulated under Israel’s nose means that the IDF has months, of not years, of fighting ahead of them. Even then, it is unlikely that Hamas would be completely annihilated.

It is looking increasingly likely that Israel may need to settle on the more realistic goal of removing Hamas from power and reducing its ability to harm Israelis. This is something that most people in Israel understand, as does the IDF. It is only Netanyahu and his hawkish ministers who are still speaking in terms of ‘total victory’.

Incidents of mass casualties, like the one in Khan Yunis last night, will strengthen the public’s doubts about Israel’s abilities to achieve its goals. It also strengthens Hamas’s resolve to keep fighting and avoiding a deal for the release of Israeli hostages.

The terror group recently revealed their conditions for the release of hostages. They include an end to the war, withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons and the acceptance that Hamas can continue to govern Gaza. Netanyahu has rejected the offer – and rightly so. Agreeing to it would mean an Israeli defeat, a blow to its deterrence and placing its population under unthinkable risk. Such a ‘deal’ with Hamas could encourage similar attacks by Hezbollah and other similarly motivated terror organisations.

Following public pressure, Netanyahu made a counter-offer this week which goes a lot further than any previous offers he has made. He suggested a two-month long stop in fighting, during which Israeli hostages would be gradually released. Israel would also rearrange their deployment of troops in Gaza and release dangerous Palestinian terrorists from prison.

Israel is a nation in mourning. Each day brings more casualties, and with them more widows and widowers, more children who will grow up without one of their parents, and more parents who have lost a son or daughter. Despite the heavy price, there is still a strong resolve in Israel to remove Hamas from power permanently and establish deterrence and a feeling of safety.

Israelis are not becoming war-weary, they are becoming Netanyahu-weary. Instead of bowing to the calls for an election, Netanyahu is clinging to his seat. All the while it is becoming increasingly clear that his lack of long-term strategic vision is harming Israel’s security.