Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, on Tuesday night, in a move received in Israel as a political bombshell.
Mr Netanyahu said he took the decision due to a breakdown in trust and significant differences in managing Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. He was also reported to be considering dismissing army chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevy and the head of the Israel security agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
The dramatic move came just over a year intoIsrael’s war with Hamas in Gaza and with Hizbullah on its northern border with Lebanon, and while it is bracing for an attack from Iran in the coming days.
The development came as the Israeli army issued new flyers on Tuesday calling for north Gazan residents to evacuate to designated “safe zones” in the southern Gaza Strip “for their own safety” before “Jabalia’s downfall”. The warnings were issued in the wake of Israeli strikes that have killed at least 35 people in Gaza since Monday.
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The dismissal of Mr Gallant sparked protests by thousands of people in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other locations on Tuesday night, with angry demonstrators lighting bonfires and blocking roads.
Bad blood between Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant has been evident throughout the 13-month Gaza war. Mr Netanyahu has rejected Mr Gallant’s calls to push for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would result in the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. In late March, thousands protested on the streets against Mr Netanyahu’s decision then to fire Mr Gallant, which was ultimately rescinded.
Mr Netanyahu fears that a Gaza ceasefire, opposed by the far-right parties in his government, will threaten the stability of his coalition and force new elections.
The two men also disagreed on another issue that threatens the stability of the coalition and is set for a parliamentary vote in the coming days: drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army. Mr Gallant argued that the country, now faced with a critical shortage of soldiers, can no longer exempt ultra-Othodox men from military service. The ultra-Orthodox parties in the government threatened to leave the coalition if Mr Gallant’s plan was implemented. Mr Netanyahu hopes that firing Mr Gallant will remove this problem from the agenda: the exemption will remain in place and the coalition will remain intact.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the dismissal of Mr Gallant in the middle of a war “an act of madness”.
“Netanyahu is selling out Israel’s security and the [Israel Defense Forces] fighters for [his own] disgraceful political survival. The ultra-right-wing government prefers the [draft] dodgers over those who serve,” he said. He called on his party’s supporters and “all Zionist patriots” to take to the streets in protest.
Mr Gallant will be replaced by foreign minister Yisrael Katz, who has no military background. Gideon Sa’ar, who was a minister without portfolio, will assume the role of foreign minister.
Mr Gallant responded to his dismissal on the social media platform X, writing that “the security of the state of Israel is and always will be my life’s mission”.
The Israeli army said on Tuesday that some 1,000 militants had been killed and 700 captured during a one-month operation in Jabaliya, north of Gaza city, in what it claimed was an attempt to prevent Hamas regrouping in the area. The vast majority of civilians living in the area fled during the fighting according to the Israeli military.
Almost 43,400 Palestinians have been killed during the Gaza war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, according to Israel, and 251 people were kidnapped.
An Israeli official confirmed on Tuesday that Israel would pay captors of hostages in Gaza “several million dollars” for the release of each hostage and would guarantee safe passage for the captors and their families out of the coastal enclave.
Families of the hostages held in Gaza and their supporters blocked the major Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning. Alon Nimrodi, father of a Gaza hostage, claimed he had had to contact Qatari mediators, since members of the Israeli government were failing to update families on the status of hostage deal negotiations.
The Israeli army has pulled back most of its soldiers from south Lebanon as efforts to clinch a ceasefire are on hold until after the US election. The Lebanese government reports that since a ground offensive began in early October, the Israeli army has destroyed tens of thousands of houses and more than 30 towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
Israeli fighter jets carried out air strikes on Tuesday in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, deep inside Lebanon, and near the town of al-Qusayr in Syria, close to the Lebanese border, targeting what it said were Hizbullah weapons storage facilities.
At least seven Palestinians were reportedly killed in clashes and air strikes in the northern West Bank overnight between Monday and Tuesday. Israel claims it targeted armed militants near the city of Qabatiya and in the Tammun area and confirmed aircraft had been used. The use of air strikes in the West Bank has become increasingly common since the start of the Gaza war, more than a year ago.
The region is bracing for an expected Iranian attack against Israel to avenge Israel’s strike last month that destroyed much of Iran’s air defence batteries and rocket production facilities, killing at least five people. Iran’s foreign minister Sayyid Abbas Araghchi said Tehran did not seek an escalation in the Middle East but reserved the right to defend itself against Israel with a “measured and calculated” response.
It was revealed on Tuesday that the police anti-fraud unit has been investigating for six months reports that prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the altering of the protocols of war cabinet meetings that took place at the start of the Gaza war.
Israeli media reported that senior figures in the security establishment suspected that efforts were made to edit the minutes of wartime discussions held with Mr Netanyahu after discovering discrepancies between transcripts of the meetings and what officials had heard in real time.
The affair is not connected to a separate ongoing investigation into allegations that secret documents were stolen from the army and leaked to foreign media outlets in an attempt to mislead public opinion against a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
