Israeli cabinet to reconvene amid internal disputes and international pressure for Gaza aid

The Israeli political-security cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday to continue discussions on the mechanism for entering and distributing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli military’s plans to expand its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. This follows the controversy that erupted during the cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attacked Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, who refused to allow the army to take responsibility for distributing aid within the Strip.

The meeting was called at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked the security agencies to submit proposals to regulate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip in the future, given the catastrophic humanitarian situation there and the external pressure on his government.

In a video statement released on Wednesday evening during his visit to the US, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attacked the controversy surrounding the recent cabinet meeting, calling it “stupid”, and refused to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza. “I see the reports about the debate over who should bring ‘humanitarian’ aid into Gaza,” said Ben-Gvir. “Well, it’s a fundamentally stupid debate, because the entire Strip should not receive an ounce of aid as long as our hostages are being held there.”

Meanwhile, Smotrich renewed his threats to bring down the government if the war on the Gaza Strip is not expanded. He criticised the army’s refusal to assume responsibility for distributing humanitarian aid, directing criticism at Netanyahu, saying that he does not monitor the army’s implementation of government decisions.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that Smotrich told Netanyahu during a recent cabinet meeting, “If even one iota of aid reaches Hamas, you can start counting down the 90 days until the elections.” The far-right extremist stressed that he did not care how the aid was distributed or the role of civilian companies in the distribution mechanism, but cared only that it “does not reach Hamas in any way.”

Israel has been preventing the entry of humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza Strip since 2 March, and the UN has warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation for Gaza’s population of approximately 2.4 million.

Maariv quoted cabinet sources, including Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, as demanding an immediate military escalation in Gaza, while Netanyahu prefers to give another chance to the negotiating track based on the Egyptian initiative. The newspaper reported that the Egyptian initiative is considered the closest to the proposal of US envoy Steve Witkoff, noting the “optimism” following Netanyahu’s phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying that the latter “supports the Israeli position.”

Israeli sources believe that the meeting between Trump and the Prime Minister of Qatar at the White House on Tuesday could be “pivotal” in the negotiating process. They expressed hope that “Trump pressured Doha to adopt the Egyptian formula, which is supported by Tel Aviv and Washington.”

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