Amid the continued delay in the hostage deal, Israel’s War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government on Sunday, reported Al Jazeera.
Gantz’s decision comes at a time when the war between Israel and Hamas is in its eighth month, and the situation in West Asia remains fragile.
“Netanyahu is preventing us from advancing towards true victory. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart but with full confidence,” Gantz said at a televised news conference on Sunday.
“There should be elections that will eventually establish a government that will win the trust of the people and be able to face challenges,” Gantz said, as he called for early polls in the country amid growing outrage among citizens due to the ongoing war.
“I call on Netanyahu: set an agreed election date,” he added.
In response to Netanyahu’s failure to present a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s ground offensive has claimed over 37,000 people since October 7, according to Gaza health officials, Gantz, last month threatened to resign from the emergency government, which was established last year to oversee the war in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Israel says that its offensive in Gaza is a retaliatory response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas that not only killed many of its people but also took them hostage.
“The protests are important, however, they need to be conducted in a legal manner and they must not encourage hatred. We are not each other’s enemies. Our enemies are outside of our borders,” Gantz told reporters.
“I will be part of a national unity government that includes all centrist parties and only that option will allow us to face all the challenges that stand before us, even with Netanyahu. Like I said, what we need is true and genuine unity and not partial unity,” he said, after quitting the emergency government, reported Al Jazeera.
Gantz also urged Yoav Gallant, the Israeli minister of defence, to “do what is right.”
In a succinct statement, Netanyahu urged Gantz not to “abandon the front,” but the right-wing coalition in power in the 120-seat Knesset will maintain its parliamentary majority of 64 seats in the event of Gantz’s departure.
In Israel, Gantz is seen as Netanyahu’s principal political adversary. Prior to joining the war cabinet, he was a prominent member of the opposition.
The conflict in Gaza escalated after the October 7 attack by Hamas, where about 2,500 terrorists breached the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip, leading to casualties and the seizure of hostages.
Israel has characterised its Gaza offensive as targeting Hamas’ infrastructure with the goal of eliminating the entire terror group while making efforts to minimize civilian casualties.
