Israel’s Ben-Gvir calls for dissolving War Cabinet

JERUSALEM

Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Wednesday for dismantling the War Cabinet.

His call followed Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel on Wednesday and the departure of hundreds of Palestinians in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to the sea amid hot weather.

"In Gaza, thousands are seen bathing on the beach, and in the north, Hezbollah saw that the War Cabinet was not responding to the attack of hundreds of missiles from Iran into Israeli territory, so it raised its head and took a step-in aggression against us that today cost us wounded soldiers,'' the leader of the Jewish Power Party wrote on X.

At least 18 people were injured, including 14 soldiers, in an explosive drone attack in northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday.

''It's time to dismantle the War Cabinet, stop the policy of inclusion and proportionality and show our enemies that the landlord has gone mad,” Ben-Gvir said.

''As long as the current policies of the War Cabinet continue, unfortunately – absolute victory is getting further and further away,'' he added.

There has been no comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Ben-Gvir's call.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 33,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 76,600 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul