According to media reports, the heated argument broke out at an Israeli cabinet meeting on Friday night. Right-wing ministers harshly attacked Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi, who wants to create a commission to discover possible mistakes by the army surrounding the surprise attack on Israel by Islamist Hamas on October 7. This was reported, among others, by the public broadcaster Kan and the newspapers Times of Israel and “Jerusalem Post”. Kan quoted one participant as saying that “total anarchy” had broken out.
Halevi was personally verbally attacked. Right-wing cabinet members were particularly critical of the timing of the investigation announced while fighting was still ongoing.
AP/Maya Alleruzzo Chief of General Staff Halevi is said to have been heavily attacked
Netanyahu ended up postponing the meeting, which was supposed to be about the future of the Gaza Strip after the war. It was said that several military representatives had already left the room furious. The government has not confirmed the dispute.
On a collision course
Benni Ganz, minister of the war cabinet and political rival of Netanyahu, would have blamed the head of government himself for the “politically motivated attack” of the ministers “in the middle of the war”. He had never seen such behavior in a cabinet meeting. Netanyahu's Likud party has rejected criticism of him.
Ganz, whose party would currently be by far the strongest faction in Israel according to recent polls, also defended Halevi's decision to create a commission, according to media reports. It is good and also the duty of the Chief of Staff to want to take responsibility after the catastrophe of October 7th.
The Israeli military also defends the planned investigation. It must learn from its mistakes, spokesman Daniel Hagari said Friday night. According to Hagari, the results of the processing should be publicly disclosed.
Cupal (ORF) on the dispute in the Israeli government
Tim Cupal (ORF) reports live from Tel Aviv on current tensions in Israel's emergency government.
The Times of Israel speculated that the army's confrontation with its own mistakes could also pressure the government to address its own shortcomings in the matter, which may have prompted criticism from ministers. Netanyahu, against whom a corruption trial has been ongoing for a long time, does not want an investigation until after the war. Critics accuse him of delaying the end of the war to remain in power.
Plans for after the war
The appointment of former Defense Minister Shaul Mofas to head the investigative commission was also met with strong protests from right-wing ministers, according to Israeli media. As Defense Minister, Mofas oversaw Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005. However, right-wing extremist ministers are now calling for the repopulation of the Gaza Strip after the war and a permanent military presence. This is rejected by Defense Minister Joav Galant, whose plan for the “day after” is to hold the Palestinians responsible for the Gaza Strip.
Heavy fighting in southern Gaza
Eyewitnesses in the southern Gaza Strip reported intense fighting in the area of the city of Khan Yunis on Friday. A dpa employee reported that loud explosions and gunshots could be heard constantly. Israeli troops would continue to advance towards the Nuseirat, Bureij and Maghasi refugee camps. Residents are said to be fleeing in donkey carts towards Rafah and other parts of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah, mainly to locations designated by the Israeli army as safe areas. Food is scarce. Many people only have precarious accommodation made of plastic sheets.
Horrible conditions
Foreign aid organizations have reported horrific conditions in the few hospitals still functioning in the Gaza Strip. “We are seeing injuries predominantly caused by explosions and shrapnel,” Oxford University Hospital senior surgeon and emergency medical team clinical director Nick Maynard said in a statement from the New York-based private charity International Rescue Committee (IRC ). ). “Many adults, children and babies are hospitalized with traumatic arm and leg amputations. We saw young children with horrible burns on their faces,” Maynard added.
Shortly after Christmas, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that only 13 of the original 36 hospitals were still partially functional. They are completely overcrowded and lack fuel, medicine, anesthetics, food and drinking water. Deliveries from abroad offer a small solution.
On Friday, planes from the French and Jordanian Air Forces dropped seven tons of humanitarian aid and medicine to a field hospital in Khan Yunis.
Most children are inadequately fed
According to the UN Office of Emergency Relief (OCHA), humanitarian organizations have been unable to deliver urgently needed life-saving aid to northern Gaza for days. OCHA said the UN and its partners were unable to provide humanitarian assistance north of the Wadi Gaza River for four days because access was delayed or denied and fighting continued in the area. Urgently needed relief supplies also included medicines.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the situation of minors in the Gaza Strip is also getting worse. According to a study conducted in late December, 90 percent of all 1.1 million young people in the coastal strip were not receiving enough nutrients. The number of diarrheal diseases has increased dramatically.