Krieg in Gaza geht weiter - Proteste in Israel

Heute morgen hat Israel den Waffenstillstand beendet und erneut Ziele in Gaza angegriffen. Dabei sollen auch Führer von Hamas und dem Islamischen Jihad getötet worden sein - aber auch viele Zivilisten:

Israel on Tuesday vowed to intensify its attacks on terrrist targets in the Gaza Strip unless Hamas returned to “genuine” negotiations to free the remaining hostages, as the military continued its large-scale bombing campaign that began in the early morning hours.

The strikes, killing at least 400 Palestinians according to Hamas health authorities, including several top members of the terror group, brought a fragile ceasefire in Gaza to an end after nearly two months of relative calm in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

After a large wave of overnight airstrikes on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency said on Tuesday afternoon the strikes during the day had targeted cells of terror operatives, rocket-launching positions, weapons, and other military infrastructure.

The weapons and infrastructure were to have been used by the terror groups in planned attacks on Israel, the military added.

The IDF also announced that it had eliminated the de-facto prime minister of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and several other top officials in the terror group in strikes on Tuesday.

Ben Gvir wieder in Regierung

Eine gute Nachricht für Netanjahu, der in den vergangenen Tagen versuchte sich des Chefs des Inlandsgeheimdienstes Shin Bet zu entledigen, ging mit damit einher. Der ultrarechte Itamar Ben-Gvir ist erneut der Regierungskoalition beigetreten:

Otzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir will return to his prior position as National Security Minister, Otzma Yehudit number two Yitzhak Wasserlauf will return to his position as Negev and Galilee Minister, and Amichai Eliyahu will return as Heritage Minister. All three positions were given to Tourism Minister Haim Katz for “safeguarding” in case Otzma Yehudit returned to the government.

Otmza Yehudit’s six MKs returning to the governing coalition means that the government now has a sizable majority to pass the 2025 state budget, without which the government would have fallen. The government previously had a narrow majority since some haredi MKs pledged to vote against the budget due to the government’s failure to enact legislation to exempt a large number of yeshiva students from military service.

Proteste

Derweil rufen verschiedene Organisationen zu Massenprotesten gegen die Entlassung des Geheimdienst-Chefs und die Freilassung der verbliebenen Geiseln auf, deren Leben sie nun in grüßerer Gefahr sehen. Für sie ist der Grund, warum die Regierung den Krieg wieder aufgenommen hat, klar:

Protesters in Israel have accused Benjamin Netanyahu of ordering the airstrikes that shattered the ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to provide “cover” for a campaign to dismantle Israel’s democratic system and to maintain his own grip on power.

Political tensions in Israel surged after the Israeli prime minister announced on Sunday that he would seek to fire the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, an unprecedented move that legal experts said may be unlawful.

“The reality is that this attack [in Gaza] is being used as a tool for political interests. The way [they] operate is to create this external threat and accuse those who raise their voices of being anti-democratic,” said Ora Peled Nakash, a former senior officer in Israel’s navy and an organiser of the protests.

Groups representing Israeli hostages currently or formerly held by Hamas in Gaza are also planning demonstrations this week, and issued statements calling for an immediate ceasefire deal.