Protesters demanding new elections in Israel clashed with police near the Jerusalem house of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after he dissolved the government's War Cabinet, leaving him as the unquestioned decision-maker regarding the eight-month-old conflict in Gaza.
Police said nine people were arrested, some for attacking officers, and the demonstration was declared illegal and dispersed with a water canon. Reuters reported thousands of protesters marched from the Knesset − the Israeli parliament − toward Netanyahu's home and some tried to break through barriers before being pushed back by police.
Netanyahu, who returned to power in 2022 with a right-wing coalition, disbanded the War Cabinet a week after centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz resigned, citing Netanyahu's failure to reveal his plans for postwar Gaza. Gantz also accused the prime minister of failing to prioritize negotiating the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas-led militants in Gaza.
The War Cabinet, which included Netanyahu, Gantz and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, was formed shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks as a sign of government solidarity. Netanyahu aide Ron Dermer and Gantz supporter Gadi Eisenkot, a former general who has also resigned, served as observers.
The dissolution allows Netanyahu to stave off demands from far-right leaders to join the war operation's inner circle after Gantz's departure, which the U.S. would likely oppose. Right-wing figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, are pushing for the eradication of Hamas above all goals.
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Netanyahu and Gallant, who have clashed over the plans for Gaza after the conflict, will instead conduct smaller consultations with officials ahead of key war decisions.
Developments:
∎ The Biden administration has convinced two key Democrats, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, to drop their opposition to a large arms sale to Israel that includes 50 F-15 warplanes worth upwards of $18 billion, the Washington Post reported Monday.
∎ The Gaza government media office accused the U.S. and Israel of using the "crime of starvation" to achieve political goals. Tens of thousands of sick and wounded people have no access to food or medicine, and famine is spreading as humanitarian aid is barely flowing, the office said.
∎ U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein met Monday with Netanyahu and was scheduled to meet with Israel President Isaac Herzog and opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Gantz. Hochstein seeks to de-escalate tensions between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants.
∎ Eight people were killed by Israeli attacks along an eastern Gaza road designated for commercial trucks as merchants and civil guards waited for them, Reuters reported Monday, citing Gaza health officials.
∎ The University of Michigan and the City University of New York committed to taking measures to address antisemitic, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab incidents on campus after failing to do so in recent instances, the U.S. Education Department said Monday.
Israel pauses military activity:Meant to facilitate aid into Gaza
Israel and Hezbollah on 'the brink' of escalating conflict
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that it killed a senior Hezbollah operative and also attacked buildings and other infrastructure used by the Iran-backed militant group in southern Lebanon as the months-long cross-border confrontation between the sides heats up to dangerous levels.
The intensified exchange of fire "is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region," Israeli militaryspokespersonRear Admiral Daniel Hagarisaid.
The U.S has been working to keep the war in Gaza from spreading, and White House national security spokesman reiterated Monday the administration's concern about Israel having to contend with a second war front.
Most Israelis support cease-fire plan
Almost 60% of Israelis want their government to accept the cease-fire plan unveiled by President Joe Biden, a survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute reveals. Neither side has announced complete acceptance of the plan.
But a quarter of Jewish Israelis and a large majority of Arab Israelis view the Biden proposal as a good one, and another third view the plan as “problematic” but acceptable since there is no better option in sight. A third of all Israelis, and four out of 10 Jewish Israelis, believe the Biden plan should be rejected. Among other findings:
∎ Most Jewish Israelis do not favor Israeli civil administration of Gaza after the war, but most do want Israel to maintain security control of Gaza. That might not fit into the complete "two-state solution" the Biden administration and most of the world are calling for.
∎ About one quarter of Israelis have a high level of trust in their government, while about three-quarters do not.
∎ About 36% of Israelis are urging an all-out attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon as soon as possible, while 26% want to wait until the Gaza war is over. Another 30% want a political settlement.
Israel claims to have wiped out half of Hamas' force in Rafah
The Israel military said Monday that it has seized control of more than 60% of the southern Gaza city of Rafah and expects to take complete control within two weeks. The military claimed to have dismantled about half of the Hamas fighting force in the city, viewed as the last major holdout for the militant group.
The Israelis said they have killed least 550 gunmen in the area while losing 22 troops. The military also said it has located numerous tunnels into Egypt, some of which had been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons, and that it has eliminated Hamas' last major rocket inventory.
Confusion reigns over promised 'pauses' in fighting
A daily pause in fighting along a main road in Gaza promised by the Israeli military − which drew criticism from Netanyahu − has not materialized, a U.N. official said Monday. U.N. Palestinian relief chief Philippe Lazzarini said fighting continues unimpeded in Rafah and southernGazadespite the announcement of "tactical pauses" lasting several hours daily to allow for the flow of humanitarian aid.
The IDF said it would continue operations in southern and central Gaza.
Lazzarini said his agency received a notification that there would be a pause, but it was soon followed by the government contradicting that instruction.
"For the time being, I see nothing which would qualify to the definition of a pause," he said. "Operationally, nothing has changed."
Palestinian Authority could collapse this summer
The Palestinian Authority, the governmental body Biden hopes will govern Gaza after the war, could fall apart in the coming months, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Monday. The authority manages parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but has struggled to remain solvent as Israel withholds hundreds of millions in tax collections claiming the authority is funding Hamas members and their families.
Barth Eide cited the lack of funding, continuing violence and Israel's employment crackdown that banned an estimated 500,000 Palestinians in the West Bank from working in Israel.
"The situation is extremely dire," Barth Eide told Reuters. "If (the authority) collapses, you could end up having anotherGaza, which would be terrible for everybody, including the people of Israel."
Generations of Palestinian families wiped out in war
An Associated Press investigation identified at least 60 Palestinian families in which 25 or more people were killed − sometimes four generations from the same bloodline − in bombings across Gaza from October to December, the deadliest and most destructive period of the war.
Nearly a quarter of those families lost more than 50 members, and several families have almost no one left to document the toll, especially asdocumenting and sharing informationbecame harder.
Youssef Salem spent months filling a spreadsheet as news of the deaths of family members was confirmed. He said he wanted to preserve a last link to the web of relationships.
“My uncles were wiped out, totally,'' Salem said. "The heads of households, their wives, children and grandchildren."
Contributing: Reuters
