Israel’s government in public spat over Gaza war plan

A group of demonstrators joined today’s House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on "Antisemitism on College Campuses", on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. 

During the meeting, the protestors raised their hands, which were painted in red, in solidarity with Palestinians killed in Gaza.

Two commercial trucks with Palestinian drivers were mistaken for an aid delivery convoy by Israeli settlers near the Giv’at Assaf settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

The settlers reportedly stopped the trucks, emptied their contents and burned the tires.

The settlers also threw a stone that hit one of the drivers in the head, Haaretz reported.
 

Palestinian-American member of Congress Rashida Tlaib virtually addressed a Nakba remembrance ceremony on Wednesday, saying "I know the Nakba never ended."

"The Israeli government is using starvation as a weapon of war. Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians – over 13,000 children. Nearly 100,000 Palestinians have been injured and 1.7 million displaced," Tlaib told the Israeli-Palestinian NGO Combatants For Peace.

"Palestinians are human beings, and we also have dreams of truly being free," she continued. "We are mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. We are justice seekers … my prayer on this Nakba Remembrance Day is that the Palestinian people will one day live in a free Palestine.”

Hezbollah has confirmed that it has launched a drone attack at a military base west of the Israeli city Tiberias.

The attack comes two days after Hezbollah field commander Hussein Mekki was killed in an Israeli attack on Southern Lebanon.

Today’s attack marks “the deepest attack into Israeli territory” since Hezbollah began exchanging fire with Israel in parallel to the war on Gaza, Reuters reported.

Lily Greenberg Call announced her resignation from the Biden administration on Wednesday over the ongoing US support for Israel's war on Gaza, becoming the first Jewish-American political official to resign in protest against the war.

Greenberg Call, who was serving as special assistant to the chief of staff at the interior ministry, sent a letter of resignation to Secretary of Interior Debra Haaland on Wednesday afternoon.

In her letter, which was shared with Middle East Eye, Greenberg Call said: "I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration amidst President Biden’s disastrous, continued support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza".

"What I have learned from my Jewish tradition is that every life is precious. That we are obligated to stand up for those facing violence and oppression, and to question authority in the face of injustice," she said.

Read more: On Nakba Day, first Jewish-American Biden appointee resigns over Gaza war

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that as long as the current government is in power, Israel will not be able to win its war against Hamas.

“The government has lost control,” Lapid wrote on X. “Soldiers are killed every day in Gaza and they fight among themselves on television. The cabinet is disassembled and non-functional. Ministers protest in front of cabinet meetings.”

“One cabinet sends humanitarian aid convoys and the other burns them,” he continues. “Relations with the US are collapsing, the middle class is collapsing, they have lost the north.”

“You can’t go on like this. We will not win with this government,” he added.

Lapid’s comments come as Netanyahu, the minister of defence and other government officials publicly sparred over the Gaza war plan.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi have called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after he publicly criticised Netanyahu’s post-war plan for military rule in Gaza.

“From Gallant’s point of view, there is no difference between whether Gaza is controlled by IDF soldiers or whether Hamas murderers control it,” he tweeted.

Legislators from Israel’s ultra right-wing party Otzma Yehudit have joined criticism of Gallant’s comments.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz voiced support on Wednesday for Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s critique of the government’s plan for "open-ended" Israeli military rule over the the besieged Strip.

Gantz “spoke the truth”, Gallant said in a video statement. “The responsibility of leadership is to do right thing for the country, at any price.”

Netanyahu’s latest comments raised a post-war scenario for Gaza consisting of Israeli-led security control over Gaza, after achieving its "war goal" of dismantling Hamas’s government in Gaza.

Gallant on Wednesday openly challenged Netanyahu over his plans and told reporters that he had pushed for a Palestinian administration for the past months but received "no response" from within government.

Israeli settlers have vandalised a house and threatened its owner in Masafer Yatta near Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank, the Wafa News Agency has reported.

Settlers from the Esh Kodesh settlement reoprtedly also attacked a house in the village of Qusra near Nablus while under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Wednesday to present a clear plan for post-war governance in the Gaza Strip, saying he would not support open-ended Israeli military rule over the Palestinian territory.

Gallant told reporters that for the past seven months, he had promoted a plan for a new Palestinian administration not linked to Hamas to govern the territory, but received “no response” from various Israeli cabinet forums.

"A dangerous trend is developing that advances the idea of Israeli military and civilian governance in Gaza,” Gallant was quoted as saying.

“This is a negative and dangerous option for the State of Israel strategically, militarily, and from a security standpoint,” he added.

“[Should this be the decision], military rule in Gaza would become the main security and military effort of the State of Israel over the coming years, at the expense of other arenas. The price paid would be bloodshed and victims, as well as a heavy economic price.”

His comments came hours after Netanyahu released a video statement where he said discussions concerning the “day after” were meaningless until Hamas was defeated.

In response to Gallant's comments, Netanyahu said that Hamas's elimination had to be pursued "without excuses" to pave a path to an alternative government in Gaza. 

Read more: Israel's defence minister says he opposes open-ended military rule

Ilan Pappe, Israeli historian and author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, said that the level of denial by western nations regarding Palestine is more sinister and “far more outraging” than during the Nakba, 0r catastrophe, in 1948, in an interview with Al Jazeera.

"At the time in 1948, there was no television. People did not have smartphones, and it was relatively easy to cover up the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing, and to claim that it didn’t exist,” Pappe remarked.

“It is impossible to say now that people cannot know what is going on when it appears on our screens.”

A letter signed by 360 authors has urged asset manager Baillie Gifford, which sponsors a number of literary festivals to divest from companies linked to Israel.

The letter, released to mark Nakba Day - the event that saw the expulsion of hundreds of thounsands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948 by Zionist militias - also called on the company to divest from fossil fuels.

"Many of the undersigned book workers have already withdrawn from participation in Baillie Gifford-funded festivals in 2024, including Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival, keeping the commitment we made in our author statement last year," read the letter.

"Others commit to continue to raise our demands. Literary organisations can expect escalation, including the expansion of boycotts, increased author withdrawal of labour, and increased disruption until Baillie Gifford divests."

Among those signing the letter are comedian Frankie Boyle, authors Lola Olufemi and Sally Rooney and writer Naomi Klein."

The Israeli army has ordered the evacuation of a two more neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, claiming Palestinians are firing rockets from them into Israel.

Israeli military spokesman for Arab media Avichay Adraee said two nieghbourhoods were al-Manshiya and Sheikh Zayyed neighbourhoods and said the army would “act forcefully against them."

"For your safety, you must evacuate the area immediately to known shelters west of Gaza City," he said in a statement.

The Israeli military has continued to escalate its military operations across the Gaza Strip with fierce battles taking place in a Palestinian refugee camp on Nakba day.

Air strikes on Wednesday morning hit a UN clinic in Gaza City and homes across northern and central districts, killing at least 20 people, including children, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Heavy artillery shelling in Rafah caused widespread destruction to residential homes and property, the agency added. 

The Palestinian health ministry said that 60 Palestinians have been killed over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll since 7 October to 35,233.

Last week, the Israeli military sent tanks and troops into Rafah, Jabalia refugee camp and the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City.

Read more: Israeli forces battle Palestinian fighters in refugee camp on Nakba day

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the cabinet had decided to "significantly increase" the migrants workers quota in Israel. 

The country has faced a major labour shortage since its war on Gaza began, partly due to Palestinian workers being banned and Israeli reservists being called up to join military operations on the Gaza and Lebanon fronts. 

Israel is set to now allow the entry of over 300,000 foreign workers, or 3.3 percent of the population. The prime minister said it would cover shortages across the economy, including in construction, agriculture and nursing.

"This is an important decision for businesses, for our economy and also for our security," said Netanyahu.