Netanyahu dissolves Israel's war cabinet after key partner Gantz quits government

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday dissolved the six-member war cabinet that focused on Israel's military offensive in Gaza, an Israeli official said.

The expected move came after the departure from government of the centrist former general Benny Gantz and after Mr Netanyahu faced demands from the nationalist-religious partners in his coalition, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to be included in the war cabinet.

Earlier, Mr Netanyahu had criticised plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily “tactical pauses” in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to allow aid to be delivered into the Palestinian enclave.

Meanwhile, there was no let-up in strikes across other parts of the enclave.

At least five Palestinians – including a woman – were killed and several others injured in attacks across Gaza as a result of Israeli shelling on a residential building in the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan Pond, north of Gaza city, the Wafa new s agency reported.

One of the injured is in a critical condition.

Hostilities are continuing in Rafah and southern Gaza despite the Israeli military's announcement on Sunday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Oslo on Monday.

At the southern city of Rafah, a man was killed in the Bir Kandah area, west of the city. Israeli troops claimed to have killed 550 enemy fighters in the Rafah operation so far, also locating 25 Hamas tunnels. They said a division - roughly 10,000 soldiers in the Israeli army - had been fighting in the city, which once had a population of around 300,000, for 40 days.

Heavy fighting continued after the Israeli military said it started a daily 11-hour tactical pause along a key route in southern Gaza to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid, although the military warned operations would continue elsewhere.

The pause was due to run from 8am to 7pm along the road from the Israeli-controlled Karem Abu Salem crossing, also known as Kerem Shalom, to the Salah Al Din Road and the outskirts of Khan Younis, according to a statement.

Artillery shelling continued near the Wadi Gaza Bridge, Salah Al Din Street, in central Gaza.

The electricity company north of the Nuseirat camp in the centre of the enclave also came under fire. Intense explosions and clashes were heard in west and central Rafah.

Aid crisis

Israeli military operations have continued across Gaza, as civilians wait for desperately needed aid to reach them. Early on Monday, Israeli vehicles passed the Musab ibn Umair Mosque, near Nuseirat camp, and Al Zaytoun neighbourhood, the the south-east of Gaza city, came under heavy fire.

Ismael Al Thawabta, director of the government media office in Gaza, told The National on Monday that no aid had entered the enclave in months.

“Since the Israeli army closed the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings, no aid has entered Gaza,” he said. “This signals a deteriorating humanitarian situation, especially since the entire Gaza Strip relies on aid. The crime of not allowing humanitarian aid to enter will exacerbate the already dire human reality."

Israel’s Co-ordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories previously said the tactical pause would “increase the volumes of humanitarian aid entering" the enclave and was introduced after discussions with the UN and humanitarian organisations.

"The talk about a tactical ceasefire in Rafah is an Israeli lie that cannot pass in the public opinion or with the Palestinian people," Mr Al Thawabta said.

He described the move by Israel as "whitewashing the face of corruption" as the Palestinian death toll continues to increase. The Rafah crossing has been "demolished and turned into military barracks", Mr Al Thawabta said.

US President Joe Biden, in an Eid Al Adha message, made a push for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

“In Gaza, innocent civilians are suffering the horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel," he said. "Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense."

He said his administration was “doing everything we can to bring an end to the war, free all hostages, deliver humanitarian relief, and work towards a future two-state solution, which I continue to believe is the only way to achieve a lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis”.

“I strongly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal Israel has made to Hamas and that the UN Security Council has endorsed is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately end the war,” he said.

The US has been pressing Israel and Hamas to formally accept the ceasefire deal supported by UN Security Council members last week, an agreement that includes an initial six-week pause to fighting.