Yesterday, Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled discussing the issue of Gaza’s future after the war due to pressure from his ruling coalition partners, according to what Israeli media reported.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority and Channel 12 said that Netanyahu “decided at the last minute not to discuss the issue of the day after the war in Gaza in the war council held on Thursday evening,” in reference to Tel Aviv’s possible plan in the Strip after the end of the war that has been ongoing for about 3 months.
The two channels indicated that “partners in the government coalition exerted great pressure on Netanyahu to cancel this discussion within the war council.”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that the War Cabinet was mandated to manage the military operation and not to discuss the politics of the next day.
Ben Gvir added that the discussion of the next day in Gaza is one of the tasks of the mini-cabinet and does not belong to the war cabinet.
The “Religious Zionism” party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the “Jewish Force” party, led by Ben Gvir, announced their opposition to the aforementioned discussion under the pretext of “the lack of jurisdiction of the War Council,” according to what was reported by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
The two ministers – who are not members of the War Council – threatened on more than one occasion to withdraw from the government and dismantle it if the war on Gaza was stopped before the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was eliminated and the Israeli prisoners and detainees in Gaza were released.
Netanyahu’s plans
More than once, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he wanted “Israeli security control” over Gaza after the war.
In his previous statements, Netanyahu said, “The day after the war, Gaza must be demilitarized, and there is only one force that can be responsible for that, which is the Israeli army.”
He also affirmed on more than one occasion his categorical rejection of the Palestinian Authority taking over the duties of government in the Gaza Strip after the war.
Netanyahu’s statements in this regard contradict the American position, and the drawn scenarios sparked a dispute between him and US President Joe Biden.
Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of yesterday, Thursday, has left 21,320 dead and 55,603 injured – most of them children and women – massive destruction of infrastructure and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
