Open conflict in the Israeli government over the post-war Gaza Strip. The Minister of Defense is in the sights of the far right, Yoav Gallant, who made a case by claiming that he “will not allow” a “civilian or military (Israeli, ed.) government to be imposed in Gaza after Hamas.” Statements that immediately triggered the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuwho stated that he was “not ready to replace Hamas with Fatahstan”, referring with the latter term to Fatah, the reference party of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank.
“Israel has been dealing with the question of who will govern Gaza after Hamas for months,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, where he reiterated that “until it is clear that Hamas does not govern Gaza militarily, no one will be ready to agree to rule Gaza out of fear for their own safety.” Any talk of the “day after” will be meaningless until Hamas is defeated.
“There is no alternative to a military victory,” Netanyahu said again. “There is only one alternative to victory: defeat. A military and diplomatic defeat, a national defeat. And my government will never agree to this.”
“Defense Minister Gallant today announced his support for the creation of a Palestinian terrorist state as a reward to Hamas for the most terrible massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust”, the Finance Minister condemned, Bezalel Smotrich.
Therefore, the Minister of National Security also attacked Itamar Ben Gvirwho called for the resignation of the Defense Minister, arguing that “from Gallant’s point of view, there is no difference if Gaza is controlled by IDF soldiers or if it is controlled by Hamas assassins – he wrote on the social network it is the essence of the conception of a defense minister who failed on October 7 and continues to fail even now. Such a defense minister must be replaced to achieve the objectives of the war.”
The leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, meanwhile accused the Netanyahu government of having lost control, underlining that as long as this executive is in power Israel will not be able to win the war against Hamas. “The government has lost control – wrote Lapid on the social network
Hamas will reject any post-war solution in Gaza that would see it excluded, underlined the head of Hamas’s political office, Ismail Haniyeh, according to Arab satellite TV reports. Haniyeh also blamed Israel for the current stalemate in negotiations that should lead to a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. Israeli demands to amend the ceasefire proposal “have brought negotiations to a dead end,” Haniyeh said, reiterating that any proposal must have as its ultimate goal an end to the war in Gaza.
Operation in Rafah, what’s happening
Israeli tanks have meanwhile pushed into the eastern part of Rafah, reaching some residential neighborhoods of the southern border city where more than a million people have taken refuge after being displaced by the war against Hamas.
Israel’s international allies have repeatedly urged against carrying out a ground incursion into the city where the refugees are being held, warning of a potential humanitarian catastrophe. Tel Aviv for its part says it is taking action to evacuate civilians before moving into new areas. He says an operation in Rafah is necessary as part of his effort to eliminate the remaining operational Hamas battalions. Netanyahu then added that Israel is evacuating civilians from Rafah and that so far almost 500,000 have left. “The humanitarian disaster they talked about has not happened, nor will it happen,” he said.
In a summary of its activities, the IDF said its forces eliminated several armed cells in close combat on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. In the eastern part of the city, he said, it also destroyed cells of armed men and a launch site from which missiles were fired at IDF troops.
A delegation of Israeli security and intelligence officials led by the Shin Bet meanwhile went to Cairo yesterday to hold talks with Egyptian officials aimed at resolving the crisis relating to the IDF operation and the closure of the local crossing, reported on social media X journalist Barak Ravid of Axios, citing an Israeli source. “The aim of the talks in Cairo is to ease tensions with Egypt and establish cordial relations,” the source said.
