Netanyahu ‘leaking’ arguments with military chief amid division over Gaza
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leaking internal disputes with the military’s top commander amid division over Gaza.
His remarks come after Israeli media outlets reported that Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir opposes Netanyahu’s push to occupy Gaza. Several ministers reportedly said Netanyahu has privately used the term “occupation of the Strip” to describe his vision for Gaza’s future.
“When the Chief of Staff knows that every argument will leak, when he knows that they will spin it against him, he won’t say everything he thinks,” Lapid wrote on X. “Decision-making is impaired.”
“I also had arguments with the IDF chief of staff, as foreign minister, and as prime minister. Some of them were not simple. Only one thing was clear to us: they need to stay behind closed doors,” Lapid wrote on X. “This also has an operational cost,” he added.
Israel’s Gantz slams minister’s attacks on army chief
Benny Gantz, an Israeli opposition politician and former member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has condemned government ministers’ “unrestrained attacks” against army chief Eyal Zamir over his reported opposition to the prime minister’s push to a full military occupation of Gaza.
“In the state of Israel, the chief of staff is subordinate to the political echelon, as it has always been and will be, but he is not a puppet on a string or a rubber stamp,” the chair of the Blue and White-National Unity political alliance said in a social media post.
“Instead of threatening and whining, perhaps it’s worth internalising: The problem lies with the political echelon, not the military one.”
It comes as Netanyahu is set to convene his war cabinet later today to discuss the next steps for Israel’s military in Gaza, during which Zamir is expected to outline a number of military options.
Earlier today, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on social media that the army chief must obey the political leadership’s orders even if he disagrees with them.
Israel to ‘reduce reliance’ on UN aid operations in Gaza
COGAT, the Israeli military agency overseeing aid coordination, says it will begin a gradual and controlled process to allow goods into Gaza through local merchants, in a move aimed at reducing the role of the UN and international organisations in delivering humanitarian aid.
“This aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the UN and international organisations,” the agency said.
A “limited number” of merchants in Gaza have been approved to bring in goods, subject to security screening and other criteria. COGAT said payments for those goods will be made via bank transfers only and monitored under a new oversight mechanism. All items will be subject to inspection, and it remains unclear who the approved merchants are.
Palestinians in Gaza have increasingly turned to bartering amid economic collapse and cash shortages, while many are unable to access money from banks.
Rights groups have accused Israel of deepening the humanitarian crisis and called for the UN to resume central oversight of aid flows into the besieged enclave.
That is not aid, that is replacing aid with direct profiteering.
Israeli MP removed from Knesset podium after quoting writer who called Israel’s war on Gaza genocide: Report
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Israeli parliamentarian Ofer Cassif, from the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al party, was forcibly removed from the Knesset podium on Monday night during a plenary session after quoting renowned Israeli writer and novelist David Grossman, who acknowledged in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica last week that, with “immense pain and a broken heart”, Israel is currently committing “genocide” in Gaza.
“‘For years I refused to use the term genocide, but now, after the images I’ve seen and after speaking to people who were there, I can no longer avoid it,'” Cassif said in his speech.
Haaretz said the session was chaired by deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi, who interrupted Cassif, saying “That’s not a quote – that’s made up,” and demanded Cassif be removed from the podium, followed by Likud member Tali Gottlieb who shouted: “He will not say ‘genocide’ in here!” before Knesset ushers physically removed Cassif from the podium.
