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JERUSALEM/CAIRO: Israel’s far-right finance minister has demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrap his plan to seize Gaza City in favor of a tougher one, while Italy said on Sunday the plan could result in a “Vietnam” for Israel’s army.
Netanyahu’s security cabinet, of which the minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is a member, approved the plan by majority on Friday to expand military operations in the shattered Palestinian enclave to try to defeat militant group Hamas.
The move drew a chorus of condemnation within Israel, where thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday calling for an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages held by militant group Hamas, as well as abroad.
The United Nations Security Council was expected to meet later on Sunday to discuss the plan, with many countries expressing concern it could worsen already acute hunger among Palestinians.
Netanyahu was expected to give a news conference for international media in Israel and make a televised announcement later in the day. It was not clear what he would say.
Smotrich said he has lost faith in Netanyahu’s ability and desire to lead to a victory over Hamas. The new plan, he said in a video on X late on Saturday, was intended to get Hamas back to ceasefire negotiations.
The prime minister and the cabinet have decided to do “more of the same” he said, referring to the fact that Israeli troops have entered the city before and failed to defeat Hamas.
He and other far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition argue that the plan does not go far enough while the army, which opposes military rule in Gaza, has warned it would endanger remaining hostages held by Hamas as well as Israeli troops.
Smotrich stopped short of delivering a clear ultimatum to Netanyahu.
Other far-right coalition allies of Netanyahu have also pushed for total military occupation of Gaza, the annexation of large swaths of the territory and the removal of much of its Palestinian population.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has made similar calls, told Army Radio on Sunday that the plan to take over Gaza City was a good one, as long as it was a first step.
The Israeli military has warned that expanding the offensive could endanger the lives of hostages Hamas is still holding in Gaza, believed to number around 20, and draw its troops into protracted and deadly guerilla warfare.
Italy said Israel should heed its army’s warnings.
“The invasion of Gaza risks turning into a Vietnam for Israeli soldiers,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview with daily Il Messaggero.
He reiterated calls for a United Nations mission led by Arab countries to “reunify the Palestinian state” and said Italy was ready to participate.
The Security Council is likely to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the prospect of its worsening if the Israeli plan goes ahead but there has so far been little appetite among Arab states to send their troops in.
Boy killed by airdrop
Israel has already come under mounting pressure over widespread hunger and thirst in the enclave, prompting it to announce a series of new measures to ease aid distribution.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that the contents of nearly 1,900 aid trucks were distributed last week from the Gaza sides of the Kerem Shalom and Zikim border crossings. A spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on the reported figure but the United Nations has said Gaza needs far more aid to come in.
On Saturday, medics said that a 14-year-old boy was killed by an aid airdrop that fell on a tent encampment in central Gaza. A video, verified by Reuters, that went viral on social media, showed the parachuted aid box falling on the teenager who, among many other desperate Palestinians, was awaiting food.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the new death raised the number of people killed during the airdrops to 23 since the war began, almost two years ago.
“We have repeatedly warned of the dangers of these inhumane methods and have consistently called for the safe and sufficient delivery of aid through land crossings, especially food, infant formula, medicines, and medical supplies,” it said.
Five more people, including two children, died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, taking the number of deaths from such causes to 217, including 100 children.
The war began on October 7 2023 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages. Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are alive.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has since killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to health officials, and left much of the territory in ruins.
Gaza medics said Israeli fire killed at least six Palestinians on Sunday, four of them in an airstrike in Khan Younis and two more people among crowds seeking aid in central Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s far right pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go harder against Hamas, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting Sunday on the premier’s bid to conquer Gaza City.

Twenty-two months into the war in Gaza, Israel is gripped by a yawning divide, pitting those calling for an end of the conflict along with a deal for the release of the hostages against others who want to see Hamas vanquished once and for all.

The debate has only intensified after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet announced plans Friday to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.

While thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest the cabinet’s decision, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video online, slamming Netanyahu’s decision on Gaza as half-hearted.

“The prime minister and the cabinet gave in to weakness. Emotion overcame reason, and they once again chose to do more of the same — launching a military operation whose goal is not decisive victory, but rather to apply limited pressure on Hamas in order to bring about a partial hostage deal,” Smotrich said.

“They decided once again to repeat the same approach, embarking on a military operation that does not aim for a decisive resolution.”

The far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, including Smotrich, have maintained considerable influence in the premier’s coalition government throughout the war — with their support seen as vital to holding at least 61-seats for a parliamentary majority.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also of the far right, told Kan radio on Sunday: “It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonization. This plan will not endanger the troops.”

In Tel Aviv, demonstrators held up pictures of hostages still in Gaza, calling on the government to secure their release.

“We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP.

Amid the back and forth in Israel, the cabinet’s decision to expand the war in Gaza has touched off a wave of criticism across the globe.

On Sunday, the UN security council is set to meet to discuss the latest development.

Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have been pushing for a negotiated truce to secure the hostages’ return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Strip following repeated warnings of an unfolding famine taking hold.

Despite the backlash and rumors of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained firm.

In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said “we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas.”

The premier has faced regular protests over the course of the war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel — which triggered the war — resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.