Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was critical of plans announced Sunday by his military to hold 11-hour pauses in fighting along a main road into Gaza to facilitate getting aid into the bomb-stricken area.
Reuters reported that the Israeli military announced daily pauses in battle from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time between Kerem Shalom Crossing and Salah al-Din Road, then northwards.
“When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him,” an Israeli official said.
While fighting would pause in the area defined, the military clarified it would continue normal operations in Rafah, which is the main focus of its campaign in southern Gaza.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized his military’s plans to pause fighting along a southern route into Gaza to facilitate getting aid into the area. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP/File)
Netanyahu’s reaction highlights heightened political tensions over aid being delivered into Gaza, where international groups have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a “fool” who should lose their job.
The dispute is just the latest between members of Netanyahu’s coalition and the military over how the war is being conducted between Israel and Hamas, which has been going on for nine months.
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Benny Gantz delivers a statement in Ramat Gan, Israel, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Last Sunday, Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quit Netanyahu’s emergency government, saying the prime minister was making “total victory impossible.”
In announcing his resignation on Sunday, Gantz said the government needs to put the return of the hostages seized on Oct. 7 by Hamas “above political survival.”
“Months after the October disaster, the situation in the country and in the decision-making cabinet has changed. Netanyahu and his partners have turned unity into a void call who has no cover. Fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations,” Gantz said. “Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing to a real victory. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today with a heavy heart, but with a whole heart.”
“Months after the October disaster, the situation in the country and in the decision-making cabinet has changed,” Gantz added. “Netanyahu and his partners have turned unity into a void call who has no cover. Fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due to political considerations.”
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Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called Gantz’s decision important and just, arguing that it was time to change Netanyahu’s government with one that will lead to restoring security, hostage releases and rehabilitation of the economic and international status of Israel.
Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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