The security cabinet met late on Saturday for a meeting that reportedly saw tense confrontations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on the topic of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Some quotes from the meeting, which occurred just hours before an Israeli delegation was set to leave for Doha and ended with a decision to increase the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza, have leaked to the public.
According to a report presented during the session, there have been delays in establishing the “humanitarian aid city” in the southern part of Gaza.
Netanyahu reportedly criticized the military over the delay, saying, “There is no reason to wait. We need to move forward.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voted against the proposal, reportedly arguing that increasing the aid distribution would make it harder to evacuate the population from the area.
During the meeting, images of Gazan civilians running toward aid distribution centers were shown.
Regarding the aid centers, Zamir said, “Look at the soldiers. It’s not far from them.”
Ben-Gvir asked, “Why are we distributing [aid] to them [Gazans] and endangering our soldiers?”
Netanyahu responded, “They’re running because there’s no food. Once they get enough, they won’t run like that.”
Ben-Gvir's response was, “We must stop! They’re running because that’s their mentality. Even when the hostages were brought in, they ran after them. Were they hungry then, too?”
Settlements and National Missions Minister Orit Strock (the Religious Zionist Party) then said that the situation “is being mismanaged.”
“Then you manage it,” Regional Cooperation Minister David “Dudi” Amsalem (Likud) shot back.
Smotrich criticizes security cabinet leak
In response to the leaked data from the security cabinet meeting, Smotrich said, “Partial and biased leaks from the cabinet have been and remain a disgrace that harms the security of the state, and this must come to an end.”
Smotrich had said that Zamir was “failing in his mission” and that he was “forcing the political echelon to allow aid that reaches Hamas and turns into a logistical supply for the enemy during wartime to enter the enclave.”
He called the decision made by Netanyahu and the rest of the cabinet “wrong.”
“With all due respect,” Smotrich said, “my criticism is also directed at the prime minister, who, throughout the war, has failed to implement the decisions of the political echelon and enforce them on the senior IDF command regarding this critical issue for victory: The destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages.”
Smotrich continued by saying that “the decision made yesterday, contrary to our position, to allow aid through the old and flawed route is unacceptable to us, and we will consider our next steps regarding it.”
Ben-Gvir's firm opposition to Gaza deal
In a post to social media on Saturday evening, Ben-Gvir called on Netanyahu to withdraw the “surrender framework,” referring to the US-backed hostage deal proposal, and “return to a framework of decisive victory.”
“The only path to decisive victory and the secure return of our hostages is the full conquest of the Gaza Strip, a complete halt to the so-called ‘humanitarian aid,’ and the encouragement of emigration,” he added.