Israeli defence chief challenges Netanyahu over Gaza's future as war intensifies

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure from critics at home and allies abroad, especially the United States, to present a plan for governance, security and rebuilding of Gaza. The debate over a postwar vision for Gaza comes as fighting has erupted again in places Israel had targeted in the early days of the war and said it had under control, as well as in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, which has sent hundreds of thousands fleeing.

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Israel's fierce response has obliterated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza and forced some 80 per cent of the population to flee their homes. Gaza's Health Ministry says over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants in its count. Meanwhile, the United Nations says there is widespread hunger and that northern Gaza is in "full-blown famine".

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: THE LATEST Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was publicly challenged about post-war plans for the Gaza Strip on Wednesday by his defence chief, who vowed to oppose any long-term military rule by Israel over the ravaged Palestinian enclave. In a televised statement, Yoav Gallant said, "We must dismantle Hamas's governing capabilities in Gaza. The key to this goal is military action and the establishment of a governing alternative in Gaza. In the absence of such an alternative, only two negative options remain: Hamas's rule in Gaza or Israeli military rule in Gaza."

In response to Gallant, Netanyahu fended off criticism that he is not planning for a postwar reality in the Gaza Strip, saying it was impossible to prepare for any scenario in the embattled Palestinian enclave until Hamas is defeated. Netanyahu said any move to establish an alternative to Hamas as the government of Gaza required that the Palestinian Islamist group first be eliminated, and demanded this goal be pursued "without excuses".

After Gallant's remarks, the Joe Biden administration welcomed the Defense Minister's call for Netanyahu to advance a plan for the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip. Speaking to The Times of Israel, a senior Biden administration official said, "We share the defence minister's concern that Israel has not developed any plans for holding and governing territory the IDF clears, thereby allowing Hamas to regenerate in those areas. This is a concern because our objective is to see Hamas defeated."

advertisement Two of Prime Minister Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners called for Gallant's ouster on Wednesday evening, after he challenged the government’s postwar thinking for the Gaza Strip. In a video message posted to X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich demanded that Netanyahu bring a resolution to the cabinet ruling out the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's involvement in the coastal strip's postwar governance — and for Gallant to be forced out if he does not agree. ×é×è הביטחון ×’×œ× ×˜ הודי×â היום למ×â×éה ×âל תמיכתו בה×çמת ×ž×“×™× ×ª ט×èו×è ×äל×é×ª×™× ×™×ª כ×ä×è×á לט×èו×è ולחמא×á ×âל הטבח ×”× ×•×èא ביות×è ×éבו×æ×â ב×âם היהודי מאז ה×éואה.

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advertisement On Wednesday, Netanyahu insisted there was no "humanitarian catastrophe" in Rafah as he announced nearly 500,000 people had been evacuated from the south Gaza city amid intense fighting. It came as Palestinians commemorated the 76th anniversary of the "Nakba", when around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 wartime creation of Israel.

Israel has said its troops had identified fighters in the central logistics compound of the UN Palestinian relief agency United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) east of Rafah, demanding an explanation. "The UN has in part become a terrorist entity in itself because it cooperates with Hamas and covers for it," Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, told Army Radio. UNRWA denied cooperating with Hamas.

advertisement Israeli troops battled terrorists across Gaza on Wednesday, including in the southern city of Rafah which had been a refuge for civilians, in an upsurge of the more than seven-month-old war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. With fighting picking up across Gaza, residents said Israeli tanks had destroyed clusters of homes in the northern Jabalia district but faced heavy resistance from Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, Reuters reported.

Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack at a military base west of Israel's Tiberias on Wednesday, in the deepest strike into Israeli territory since the Lebanese armed group began exchanging fire with Israel in parallel with the Gaza war. Hezbollah said it was targeting part of a surveillance system used by the Israeli air force, and that the swarm of attack drones "hit its limited targets accurately and accomplished what it wanted in this limited operation."

Hours after the Hezbollah attack, Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes in northeastern Lebanon's Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold some 100 kilometres from the border. The reports described the Israeli strike as the largest in the Baalbek region amid the war. Multiple targets also reportedly hit in the Nabi Chit and Brital areas of Lebanon.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has blamed Israel for a deadlock in Gaza ceasefire negotiations and reiterated key demands including that any agreement provide a framework for a permanent end to Israel's offensive in the enclave. Haniyeh said his group was determined to pursue all available ways to end the war in Gaza, leaving the door open to more mediation efforts, but he held to the group's key demands.

Published By: Vani Mehrotra Published On: May 16, 2024

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