A former Israeli intelligence chief has called for PM Benjamin Netanyahu to resign over failings in the conflict with Hamas.
Efraim Halevy, who was the director of Israeli national intelligence agency Mossad until 2002, has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu and his proposed reforms to the Supreme Court.
The 82-year-old has said there is a growing movement among retired Israeli generals against the Prime Minister.
Halevy added that he does not see a way that Netanyahu can stay and lead the nation to peace and that he "must go".
Efraim Halevy said Benjamin Netanyahu "must go"
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Halevy also criticised Netanyahu for failing to defeat Hamas.
In an interview with The Times, he said: "The problem is that this present government does not accept the two-state solution, because we deny them the right to sovereignty.
“There’s the question too of the West Bank and this mixture of Palestinians and Israeli settlers.
"This set-up, this system, has not been proven successful. And now we have many, many other things which we have to take care of."
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Smoke seen rising in Gaza
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The former EU ambassador had previously called for negotiation with Hamas.
However, now he has admitted that time will never come, and Israel will "never recognise" the Islamist movement as the "animosity is too high".
Despite this, he added, the PM did not seem keen on propping up the Palestinian National Authority for them to take over the helm in Gaza.
Halevy said: "You must refrain from entering the situation of occupation. We have enough on our hands in the West Bank and everything it symbolises. I think the recipe for the West Bank which he [Netanyahu] has should not be a recipe for anywhere,”
An Israeli soldier operates, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza
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He added: "Ultimately, there has to be an element of self-rule by the population...I don’t think we have the capacity to dictate to them how they’re going to run their affairs once we are no longer there."
"The story of Hamas is one story, then the story of Iran and Iraq, of the Houthis, of the question of Saudi Arabia’s future policies.
"Everything is, I won’t say up for grabs, but it’s a very volatile situation at the moment.
"And this could really create unexpected and unforeseen results."
