Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his six-member war cabinet, a common move following the departure of centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz and his ally Gadi Eisenkot Anticipated decision.
Israeli media reported that sensitive issues regarding Hamas’ war in Gaza will now be decided in a smaller forum.
Far-right ministers have been calling for his replacement since Mr Gantz resigned eight days ago over a lack of war strategy.
By disbanding the war cabinet, Mr. Netanyahu avoided a sticky situation with his coalition partners and international allies.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that for its part, this would not affect the chain of command.
Days after the October war broke out, Gantz and Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition in a national unity government.
Two former IDF chiefs of staff announced their resignations on June 9, with Gantz saying the prime minister’s leadership “prevents us from getting closer to real victory.”
Immediately afterwards, far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gver said he had written to Mr Netanyahu asking that he be added to the war cabinet.
On Sunday evening, Mr Netanyahu reportedly informed ministers of his decision to dissolve the decision-making body rather than bring in new members.
“this [war] At Gantz’s request, the cabinet signed a coalition government agreement with Gantz. Once Gantz leaves, there will be no need for a cabinet,” he said. According to the Jerusalem Post.
Haaretz reports Some issues previously discussed by the war cabinet will be transferred to the 14-member security cabinet, which includes Mr Ben-Gweil and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The statement said sensitive decisions would be discussed in a “smaller consultative forum” expected to include Defense Minister Yove Galante, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Demer and ultra-Orthodox Shas party leader Aye Delhi. The three men served in the war cabinet along with Prime Ministers Gantz and Eisenkot.
The IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, insisted on Monday that such a move would not affect its operations.
“Cabinet members are changing, methods are changing. We have echelons, we know the chain of command. We work according to the chain of command. This is democracy,” he told reporters.
On October 7, an unprecedented attack occurred in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 other people hostage. The Israeli military launched an operation to destroy Hamas in Gaza.
Since then, more than 37,340 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
There were signs of further tension in the Israeli government over the past day, with Mr Netanyahu and his far-right ministers criticizing the IDF’s decision to impose a daytime “war moratorium on military activities” near the southern Gaza city of Rafah to allow for the delivery of more humanitarian aid Aid supplies.
The purpose of the pause is to allow trucks to collect aid from the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing southeast of Rafah and then travel safely to the main north-south highway in Gaza. Supplies to the crossing have been hampered since Israel began operations in Rafah last month.
But Mr Ben-Gvir denounced the policy as foolish, while Israeli media quoted Mr Netanyahu as saying: “We have a state with an army, not an army with a state.”
The IDF responded by saying the pause did not mean fighting in southern Gaza would stop, adding to confusion over what exactly was happening there.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Gaza’s largest humanitarian organization, reported that fighting continued in Rafah and other areas in the south on Monday and “no operational changes have yet occurred”.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces said its forces “are continuing targeted intelligence-based operations in the Rafah area”. The statement added that they recovered weapons in the Tal Sultan area, attacked buildings containing explosives and eliminated “several terrorists”.
With little sign of progress towards a comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli military has issued a fresh warning that a low-level conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah now risks turning into a wider war.
A key U.S. diplomat has returned to the region to try to ease tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border after recent intensification of fighting.
