War Cabinet member condemns ministers who went to event about Gaza resettlement
TEL AVIV — Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war Cabinet and a former military chief of staff, has condemned right-wing ministers for attending a conference that called for the establishment of Israeli settlements throughout Gaza.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who delivered keynote speeches at the event, gathered with thousands of attendees at a conference hall in Jerusalem yesterday.
Calling on Netanyahu to be “courageous,” Ben-Gvir said it was time to resettle Gaza and to “encourage” Palestinians to leave the enclave. Smotrich said Israel was at a crossroads and that “without settlement, there’s no security.”
But in a post on X this morning, Eisenkot said: “Everyone who participated yesterday in the event in the International Convention Center and especially elected officials — learned nothing and a half from the events of the past year, about the importance of actions with a broad national consensus and solidarity in Israeli society,”
“Even while putting fundamental differences aside for the sake of the common goals — the return of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas, others find time for an event that divides Israeli society, increases the existing lack of trust in the government and its elected officials and, above all, sharpens the divisive over the unity,” he added.
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Early morning bombardment in Rafah
Smoke and flames rise from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment early today.
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