Right-wing politicians and groups assailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s abrupt decision Sunday evening to resume humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip, which came after repeated pledges by top officials, including by Defense Minister Israel Katz, not to do so until a new Hamas-circumventing aid mechanism was put in place.

Netanyahu ordered the immediate resumption of “basic” humanitarian aid into Gaza amid mounting US pressure to end a monthslong blockade. The move was approved during a security cabinet meeting at the recommendation of military officials who reportedly warned that food supplies belonging to the UN and aid groups had completely run out, creating an acute humanitarian crisis.

No vote was held among the ministers, many of whom opposed the step, which went against repeated pledges by senior officials in recent months that no aid would resume before a new mechanism was put in place to prevent Hamas from commandeering the supplies. The aid was set to renew via the previously used mechanisms for at least a week.

“Any humanitarian aid that enters the Strip… will fuel Hamas and give it oxygen while our hostages languish in tunnels,” lamented National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who earlier this year bolted the government over the announcement of a ceasefire-hostage deal, and then returned when fighting resumed.

“The prime minister is making a grave mistake with this move, which doesn’t even have a majority,” Ben Gvir argued in a statement. “We must crush Hamas and not simultaneously give it oxygen.”

In a separate post on X, Ben Gvir, who had demanded a security cabinet vote on the move and was refused, said: “Mr. Prime Minister, our hostages have no humanitarian [aid]!”

Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, of Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, said: “This is our tragedy with Netanyahu’s approach. A leader who could have led to a clear........

© The Times of Israel