Netanyahu slams Schumer’s call for new election as inappropriate, says Israel ‘no banana republic’

The military will not announce an invasion into Rafah, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said today, telling reporters a plan is being decided on with final approval from the country's "political echelon."

Halevi was responding at a news conference to a direct question about why the IDF has yet to launch a ground assault on Rafah, which has been looming for weeks as Israeli authorities continue to describe the city as Hamas' last stronghold.

"The IDF is preparing for attacks in additional areas, and together with the political echelon we will decide on the appropriate timing and conditions," Halevi said earlier in the briefing, without directly referring to Rafah.

Netanyahu's office said last week that he had approved a plan to invade Rafah, which reportedly includes evacuations for the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Officials from varying ally countries, including the U.S. and Germany, have warned that invading Rafah could complicate the already difficult situation in Gaza and the wider region.

Netanyahu has said the Rafah invasion will happen regardless of international pressure, describing it as a vital step in winning the war against Hamas.

JERUSALEM — A shipment of aid that arrived on Gaza’s shore Friday is expected to bring some respite to starving Palestinians in the enclave’s north — but how and when it will be distributed has yet to be seen.

Tons of flour, rice and canned foods were offloaded Saturday, according to World Central Kitchen, the charity that collected the food and organized the maritime aid shipment. The much-needed aid was transported 200 miles from the Larnaca port of Cyprus to Gaza by the Open Arms, a ship named after the charity.

World Central Kitchen, which was launched by celebrity chef José Andrés and which runs a network of around 60 kitchens across the Gaza Strip, said today that the aid was in a warehouse and had yet to be distributed.

The statement countered an update from COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, which said 12 World Central Kitchen trucks had “distributed the aid” from the maritime delivery in northern Gaza.

World Central Kitchen emphasized that the aid was still awaiting distribution. COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the discrepancy.

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Schumer called for Israel to hold elections and deemed Netanyahu an “obstacle to peace” in a short statement responding to Netanyahu's criticism of his speech.

“It’s a good thing that a serious discussion has now begun about how to ensure Israel’s future security and prosperity once Hamas has been defeated,” Schumer said in a statement today following Netanyahu's criticism.

Netanyahu called Schumer's speech "totally inappropriate" in an appearance this morning in CNN.

Some congressional Democrats came out in support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's call for new elections in interviews that aired this morning.

In an interview on CNN's "State of the Union," Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a former House speaker, said that Schumer's remarks were "an act of courage, an act of love for Israel," and that she wishes Netanyahu would read his entire speech, because it speaks to "the need to defeat Hamas.”

After mentioning that many people in Gaza are dying from the lack of food and calling it a "very sad situation," Pelosi also noted that Schumer, who supports Israel, is the top Jewish elected official in the U.S.

Asked whether she supports Schumer's call for new elections after Netanyahu expressed his opposition, Pelosi replied that she thinks "it’s a very serious proposal."

“What does that say if he won’t even say that as the war winds down, the people of Israel should speak? That’s all Chuck [Schumer] was saying, but read the speech, because it condemns Hamas," Pelosi said, adding that Netanyahu gave a "very weak presentation" when he stated his opposition to new elections.

Confirmed Israeli plans to invade Rafah do not mention “any practical plan” to protect the 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there, the Palestinian foreign affairs ministry said in a statement, describing the plans as “a blatant challenge to the international community in general and the American administration in particular.”

The Israeli military has “turned the entire Gaza Strip into an uninhabitable area,” the ministry said, calling on it to secure “basic humanitarian needs” and to achieve its “war goals” through political means.

The government’s focus on “revenge” for the events of Oct. 7 is damaging the “security and stability of the region and the world,” the ministry added, calling on international governments to continue opposing the expansion of the ground war into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.

The Palestinian foreign affairs ministry is part of the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank and is not connected to Hamas.

Israel's Cabinet unanimously approved a new federal holiday to pay tribute to those killed during the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the current war.

The country will conduct two ceremonies this year: a memorial ceremony for the soldiers who were killed during the war and a civil ceremony honoring the civilians murdered in the Hamas-led attacks.

Instead of falling on Oct. 7 on the Gregorian calendar, the holiday will be celebrated on the Jewish calendar date of the 24th of Tishrei every year. The Jewish calendar follows a lunisolar calculation, which means it follows lunar months but with adjustments for the solar year, which is 11 days longer.

That ensures that the Jewish holidays still fall within the correct season, though the specific dates may change every year.

“This year, due to the fact that the 24th of the Hebrew month of Tishrei falls on Shabbat, the ceremonies will be held on Sunday, the 25th of Tishrei, as they will be every year when the 24th of Tishrei falls on Shabbat,” Israel’s government said in a statement today.

Airdrops of aid have limited capacity, and they are expensive and can harm civilians, and Gaza does not have the port infrastructure to support large amounts of aid via sea vessels, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on X today, calling for a greater number of land crossings of aid to be allowed into Gaza.

"Safe, unimpeded and sustained access throughout the Gaza Strip is a matter of life and death," the agency said, adding that Gaza was "on the verge of famine."

There are six land crossings into the Gaza Strip, five of which cross from Israeli territory into Gaza. Of those, only Rafah, between Gaza and Egypt, is reliably open, alongside Kerem Shalom, between Gaza, Egypt and Israel.

International agencies such as the U.N. and the World Health Organization have said stringently enforced Israeli border checks at crossings are creating significant delays to aid, making the humanitarian situation in Gaza worse.

Netanyahu described last week's call for new elections from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., as "totally inappropriate" and something for the "Israeli people to decide."

In an interview on CNN today, Netanyahu described it as inappropriate "to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership." He evaded a question about whether he would commit to new elections when the war winds down.

"I think that's something for the Israeli people to decide. I think it's ridiculous to talk about it," Netanyahu said.

Schumer, who has supported Israel throughout his political career, accused Netanyahu of "allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel." Thousands of Israelis have protested for weeks in demonstrations calling for new elections while criticizing Netanyahu’s leadership.

Netanyahu said that his policies are supported by the majority of Israelis and that if Schumer opposes him, he opposes the Israeli people.

Israel is not a "banana republic," he said, referring to a phrase used for small countries that are economically dependent on a single crop. Political scientists often use this term to describe a corrupt regime.

TEL AVIV — Aid that was delivered to Gaza's shores earlier this week on a vessel carrying tons of much-needed food has been moved to a warehouse and is awaiting distribution, organizers told NBC News.

The shipment, which was coordinated by World Central Kitchen, a charity launched by celebrity chef José Andrés and which runs a network of around 60 kitchens across the Gaza Strip, reached the enclave's coast on Friday after a roughly 200-mile journey from Cyprus' Larnaca port. It was towed by a vessel belonging to the Spanish charity Open Arms.

COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, had said in an update on Sunday that 12 World Central Kitchen trucks had "distributed the aid to the northern Gaza Strip."

The charity disputed that, saying the aid was still awaiting distribution. COGAT did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the discrepancy.

The aid includes tons of flour, rice and protein, which is much needed in northern Gaza, where access to aid has been extremely limited, resulting in a spiraling humanitarian crisis amid fears of a famine. World Central Kitchen has said a second vessel carrying roughly 204 tons of food was being readied to set sail for Gaza. The charity said it hoped to "establish a maritime highway" of future boats and barges packed with aid for Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected growing international calls for elections in Israel and to delay a ground invasion of Rafah, accusing global allies of trying to “silence the country.”

“It’s no secret that the international pressure against us is growing,” Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting today. “They do this by trying to bring about elections now, in the midst of the war,” he added, saying that elections would “silence” Israel for “at least six months.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a longtime supporter of Israel who led a congressional delegation to the country in October in a show of U.S. support, described Netanyahu as an “obstacle to peace” last week and called for fresh elections.

“If we stop the war now, before achieving all its objectives, it means that Israel has lost the war, and we will not allow that,” Netanyahu said.

He added that “no international pressure will stop us from achieving all the goals of the war” and that a ground invasion of Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, would go ahead.

The death toll in Gaza climbed past 31,600 today after 92 people were killed overnight, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health.

More than 130 people were injured in nine separate attacks, the Health Ministry added.

DOHA — The head of Israeli intelligence is expected to lead cease-fire talks with mediators that resume in Qatar on Sunday in direct response to a new proposal from Hamas, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Saturday.

The talks between Mossad head David Barnea, Qatar’s prime minister and Egyptian officials will focus on remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas including over prisoner releases and humanitarian aid, the source said.

Israel had said on Friday it would be sending a delegation to Doha, but did not spell out when it would do so or who would take part. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to convene the security Cabinet before the talks.

The situation in Gaza is “catastrophic & deteriorates by the minute,” said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

UNRWA teams are working to provide aid to families in need in the enclave, including flour, dairy, water, medicine and hygiene kits.

“Safe, unimpeded & sustained access across the #GazaStrip is needed NOW,” the organization said on X.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus is “gravely concerned” about reports of an imminent Israeli military expansion into Rafah.

“Further escalation of violence in this densely populated area would lead to many more deaths and suffering,” Tedros wrote on X.

Over a million Palestinians have been displaced to Rafah.

“There are no fully functional, safe health facilities that they can reach elsewhere in #Gaza,” he wrote. “Many people are too fragile, hungry and sick to be moved again.”

Tedros appealed to Israel not to move forward with the military expansion.

“This humanitarian catastrophe must not be allowed to worsen,” he wrote.

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