The Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has threatened to resign if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to adopt an agreed plan for Gaza, calling into question the future of the Israeli government.
During a press conference on Saturday, Gantz announced that if a plan for postwar governance of the territory is not consolidated and approved by 8 June, his opposition National Unity party will withdraw from the coalition government.
The press conference came just hours after the Israel Defense Forces said it had recovered the body of another hostage, Ron Benjamin, 53, who had been taking part in a cycle ride near the border with Gaza when Hamas launched its bloody attack on 7 October.
His body was found along with three other hostages – Itzik Gelernter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila – whose remains were recovered on Friday.
“Personal and political considerations have begun to enter the most sacred parts of Israel’s defense,” Gantz told reporters.
“Prime minister Netanyahu, I look you in the eye tonight and tell you: the choice is in your hands,” Gantz said. “The Netanyahu of a decade ago would have done the right thing. Are you willing to do the right and patriotic thing today?
“The people of Israel are watching you,” he added. “You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and factionalism, between responsibility and lawlessness – and between victory and disaster.”
View image in fullscreenRon Benjamin, whose body was found next to three other hostages.
His departure would leave Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, even more beholden to far-right allies who have taken a hardline on negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.
On Thursday, defence minister, Yoav Gallant, challenged Netanyahu over the same issue, saying he would not permit any solution where Israeli military or civil governance were in the territory. Gallant’s comments were immediately backed by his fellow minister Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival in the emergency coalition, plunging Israel’s leadership into a highly public row.
Gantz demanded a six-point plan, which includes demilitarisation in Gaza and the establishment of a joint US, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage Gaza’s civilian affairs and the return of hostages.
The previous day, the IDF announced that the bodies of three hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including the German-Israeli Shani Louk, had been retrieved from Gaza.
Images of militants parading Louk’s bloodied and broken body through Gaza on the back of a pickup truck were among the first to capture the horrors of the brutal 7 October attack.
The family initially hoped she had been injured and survived, but three weeks later learned that she was presumed dead, after fragments of her skull had been found at the festival site, her father, Nissim Louk, told the BBC’s Today programme, saying his family is relieved they will finally be able to bury their “beautiful girl” after her body was…
2024-05-18 14:09:03
Source from www.theguardian.com