After 80 days of complete blockade on the war-torn Gaza Strip, alarming warnings of catastrophic starvation and the collapse of the healthcare system, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he decided to allow the entry of humanitarian aid including food and medicine.

Netanyahu’s decision, which was allegedly taken without a vote, angered several cabinet members including the extremist ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and others. Ben-Gvir made clear he had been and is still against the entry of any particle of aid. He has on several occasions called for bombing any remaining food warehouses in the besieged enclave.

“This [entry of aid] is a serious mistake, which is delaying our victory,” Ben-Gvir said. “I call once again on the prime minister to explain to our friends in the White House the implications of this aid, which only prolongs the war and delays our victory and the return of all our hostages,” he added.

Meanwhile Smotrich, who adopts an almost similar approach, he said the Israeli occupation government may allow some aid into Gaza but insisted on the need to ethnically cleanse the coastal enclave by killing all of its residents or forcing them out to another country, paving the way for resettlement.

“I was the one who demanded an end to the reckless policy of sending in thousands of trucks [to Gaza],’ he said, claiming that aid “was seized by Hamas, monetised and used to prop up its regime.”

He added: “I initiated an alternative plan involving civilian companies, and I can say with full responsibility that the past will not repeat itself,” exposing the aim of Netanyahu’s decision to allow the entry of aid to Gaza.

The extremist minister stated: “It will allow civilians to eat, for our friends in the world to continue to provide us with an international umbrella of protection against the........

© Middle East Monitor