Israeli cabinet divided over course of Gaza war

Meetings of the Israeli Security Cabinet revealed “major disagreements” between the political and the military ranks regarding the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

The disagreements resurfaced during the latest cabinet meeting held Thursday evening, which ended without a statement, following a similar meeting held Tuesday evening.

The cabinet is scheduled to meet again next Monday in the hopes of bridging the gaps and disagreements between the military and political levels regarding the details of the policies adopted in the war on Gaza and the distribution of aid provided by foreign countries and parties to the Palestinian people in the Strip.

On Friday, Israel’s  Israel Hayom  newspaper reported that the meeting held on Thursday evening meeting witnessed “major disagreements” between the military establishment and the political level.

The newspaper added that although “gaps were bridged during the meeting between the military and the political levels regarding the method of distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza, serious disagreements resurfaced between the heads of the military establishment and the ministers.”

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The newspaper indicated that the serious disagreements are related to “the next stages of the military campaign,” i.e., the genocidal war that Israel has been waging against the Gaza Strip for 19 months.

The newspaper revealed that “a sharp verbal altercation broke out between the two sides during the session, with the participants raising their voices.”

It reported that the failure to reach an agreement between the two sides regarding the course of the war against the Gaza Strip “requires the Israeli army once again to update the plans it has prepared and to return with new proposals consistent with the approach of the government ministers.”

Since 2 March, Israel has closed the Gaza Strip’s crossings to food, relief, medical aid, and goods, causing a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation for Palestinians, according to government, human rights, and international reports.

The Israeli government claims it does not want this aid to reach Hamas, while the Israeli military says its distribution of aid to the population poses risks.

Meanwhile, far-right ministers, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have said that that no aid should be allowed into Gaza at all.

In this regard, Israel Hayom reported that regarding the issue of aid, the has army presented new plans that are consistent with the demands of the ministers, which stipulates that there is no possibility for Hamas to obtain supplies.

It added that the new plans were prepared in a way that will not pose danger to the Israeli soldiers if they decide to distribute supplies.

The newspaper did not provide specific details about these new plans.

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