Israeli minister says full control of Gaza will enable Israel to achieve its goals
Israel’s Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter says it is not possible for Israel to realise its goals without taking control of the Gaza Strip. In an interview with Israeli Army Radio Dichter said Israeli control over the enclave “will allow Israel to conduct negotiations from a position of strength”.
Israeli leadership in a war of all against all
Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya and non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, says Gantz’s ultimatum calling for a post-war plan for Gaza shows there’s now open warfare in the Israeli war cabinet.
“It’s interesting to watch Israeli leadership during wartime turning into a circular firing squad. You essentially have two wars. On the one hand, Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and, on the other, a war of all against all in the Israeli leadership, seeking to evade responsibility,” Rabbani told Al Jazeera.
“What Gantz has done, and Gallant previously, is they have insisted that Netanyahu put forward a comprehensive political vision for the administration and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war. The problem is that there’s nothing that Gantz, Gallant and Netanyahu can propose that will actually take root, unless Israel first defeats and eliminates Hamas as a significant force in the Gaza Strip. And what we’ve seen eight months in, there’s virtually no prospect of that being achieved,” he said from Montreal.
“Additionally, if you look at the list of six demands that Gantz has put forward, it’s really all pie in the sky – a conscription law that includes the ultraorthodox who refuse it, normalisation with Saudi Arabia, an American-European-Arab-Palestinian administration that excludes both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority … so, I think he’s seeking to establish a position for whatever political battles are coming next.”
Israeli PM should dissolve war cabinet: Ben-Gvir
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he hopes Netanyahu will have the courage to dissolve the war cabinet and dismiss Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Army Radio reported.
In recent days, divisions within Israel’s war cabinet over the lack of post-war plans for the Gaza Strip have played out in public. On Wednesday, Gallant said he was opposed to the Israeli military control or taking responsibility for the governance of Gaza. On Saturday, Gantz said he would withdraw support from Netanyahu’s government if his demands for a post-war plan for Gaza were not met by June 8.
Smotrich calls for permanent Israeli military presence in Gaza Strip: Report
Israel’s Channel 12 reports that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for a permanent presence of Israeli forces in the entire Gaza Strip.
He also called for an ultimatum to Hezbollah asking the Lebanese armed group to either cease to attack Israel and withdraw its forces as far as beyond the Litani River or face Israeli military action and occupation of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have frequently traded fire since October 8 after the group launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The cross-border attacks have reawakened memories of historic tensions between the two forces that had been relatively dormant since 2006 and have led to fears of a greater regional conflagration.
Fourth Israeli military brigade to fight in Rafah: Report
Israeli Channel 12 has quoted army sources saying that a fourth military brigade has joined the operation in Rafah, bringing the number of brigades operating in Gaza to nine.
