A far-right Israeli government minister has criticized a decision by the country\u2019s military to withdraw an army division from Gaza, exposing further divides between lawmakers over the military offensive in the Palestinian enclave. <\/p>\n
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said a \u201crocket barrage\u201d launched from Gaza into Israel on Tuesday morning \u201cproves once again that the occupation of the (Gaza) Strip is necessary for the realization of the combat goals.\u201d <\/p>\n
The\u00a0IDF said Monday that the 36th division, which comprises armored, engineering, and infantry companies, withdrew from the Gaza Strip after 80 days, in the most significant sign yet of a shift to a new phase of fighting that some Israeli officials have been promising. <\/p>\n
A growing chorus of leaders have condemned the spiraling death toll in Gaza, where Israel\u2019s deadly military offensive since October 7 has decimated swathes of the territory and left more than 2.2 million people facing famine, deadly disease and forcible displacement. <\/p>\n
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that the \u201cintensive manoeuvring stage\u201d of Israel\u2019s military offensive in northern and southern Gaza would \u201cend soon.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Israeli military is working to \u201celiminate pockets of resistance\u201d in northern Gaza, Gallant said, claiming: \u201cWe will achieve this via raids, airstrikes, special operations and additional activities.\u201d <\/p>\n
After the October 7 attacks, Gallant said the original plan was for the \u201cintensive manoeuvring stage\u201d of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza to last approximately three months. But, he cautioned the Israeli military adapts its operations \u201cin accordance with the reality on the ground\u201d and \u201cour intelligence.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the period, and according to the assessment of the situation, it will be decided on the continuation of the operational activity of the division\u2019s forces according to the operational need,\u201d the spokesperson added. <\/p>\n
The withdrawal means there are now three IDF combat divisions left in Gaza, alongside special forces, according to the spokesperson. <\/p>\n
The units still on the ground in Gaza include the 98th\u00a0division, which is operating in central Gaza and is the biggest division ever created in the history of the IDF. The IDF does not comment on the number of its troops in Gaza, but every division comprises multiple brigades which can each include thousands of soldiers. <\/p>\n
Ben Gvir\u2019s comments highlight the tensions that exist within the Israeli government, and the wider defense and security establishment, over how much of a presence Israel should retain inside Gaza after the war. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Israeli cabinet members argued over plans for the\u00a0post-war future of Gaza\u00a0and how to handle investigations into the security failings around Hamas\u2019 October 7 attacks. <\/p>\n
The public spat on January 4 followed what one source described as a \u201cfight\u201d at a meeting of the the security cabinet. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said there had been a \u201cstormy discussion,\u201d while former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said a \u201cpolitically motivated attack\u201d had been launched. <\/p>\n
The security cabinet split was over how to handle investigations into the October 7 attack on Israel, including the Israeli military\u2019s failure to anticipate it, as well as how to approach the war from now on. <\/p>\n
If the government collapses, Israel would likely face new elections that Netanyahu is widely expected to lose. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some far-right\u00a0politicians are pushing for complete re-occupation, along with the possible return of Jewish settlements, in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure from the United States to ensure a prominent role for the Palestinian Authority, said recently Israel has \u201cno intention of permanently occupying Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza has forcibly displaced at least 1.93 million people, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees. Thousands of families have moved multiple times as Israel\u2019s offensive has moved to new areas. <\/p>\n
Regional actors in the Middle East have repeatedly likened\u00a0the\u00a0mass movement\u00a0of Palestinians in Gaza to the\u00a0\u201cNakba,\u201d\u00a0or catastrophe, the Arabic term for the expulsion or flight of Palestinians from their towns during the founding of Israel in 1948. <\/p>\n\n
A far-right Israeli government minister has criticized a decision by the country\u2019s military to withdraw an army division from Gaza, exposing further divides between lawmakers over the military offensive in the Palestinian enclave. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said a \u201crocket barrage\u201d launched from Gaza into Israel on Tuesday morning \u201cproves once again that <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}