Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet overseeing the fight to avenge a stunning weekend attack by Hamas militants.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a war-time Cabinet overseeing the fight to avenge a . In the sealed-off Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, Palestinian suffering mounted as Israeli bombardment demolished neighborhoods and the only power plant ran out of fuel.
The new Cabinet establishes a degree of unity after years of bitterly divisive politics, and as the Israeli military appears increasingly likely to launch a into Gaza. The war has already claimed at least 2,300 lives on both sides.
The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an . Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults.
The Cabinet, which will focus only on issues of war, will be led by Netanyahu, Benny Gantz — a senior opposition figure and former defense minister — and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. A former chief of a staff and another government minister were named as «observer» members.
Still, Israel’s political divisions remain. The country’s chief opposition leader, Yair Lapid, was invited to join the Cabinet but did not immediately respond to the offer. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle non-war issues.
Israel’s increasingly in Gaza have flattened entire city blocks and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath debris. A ground offensive in Gaza, whose 2.3 million residents are densely packed into a , would likely result in a surge of casualties for fighters on both sides.
Militants in Gaza have fired thousands of rockets into Israel since Saturday, and their barrages continued on Wednesday, aimed at the southern town of Ashkelon.
Some 250,000 people have in Gaza, most crowding into U.N. schools. Others sought the shrinking number of safe neighborhoods in the strip of land only 25 miles long, wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
After nightfall, Palestinians were plunged into pitch blackness in large parts of Gaza City and elsewhere after the territory’s only power station and shut down Wednesday. Only a few lights from private generators still glowed.
Israel on Sunday halted the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory. The sole remaining crossing from Egypt was shut down Tuesday after airstrikes hit nearby.
