(MENAFN) Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has publicly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alleging that he is deliberately seeking to extend the ongoing war in Gaza for political advantage.

Lieberman, who heads the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu Party, voiced these concerns on Sunday, suggesting that Netanyahu hopes to maintain the war effort until national elections are held.

According to Lieberman, political pressure on Netanyahu will intensify once the hostages, captured by Hamas in October 2023, are released and the conflict concludes.

“Netanyahu wants to prolong the war until the elections,” he stated during an interview with an Israeli public broadcasting network.

The ex-minister did not clarify whether he was referring to the scheduled elections following the expiration of Netanyahu’s term in December 2026 or a potential snap election, which could be called in late 2025 or early 2026.

Lieberman also emphasized that, “It is not possible to eliminate Hamas without first returning all the hostages (in Gaza) at once.”

On July 6, indirect discussions commenced in Doha, the capital of Qatar, with the aim of reaching a deal that encompasses both a truce and the exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel.

A source familiar with Hamas told a news agency that the group had received revised territorial maps from intermediaries, identifying parts of Gaza still under Israeli occupation.

Hamas has since launched internal deliberations to assess the maps.

Since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the Israeli military has reportedly killed close to 59,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority being women and children.

The unrelenting attacks have devastated the territory, rendering it nearly impossible to inhabit.

In November of last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The charges include war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.

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