Ben-Gvir insists on sacking Gallant over post-war Gaza 'control' comments

Israel's extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of PM Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, has demanded sacking of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the latter's comments on post-war Gaza.

"The Minister of Defence who failed on October 7 and continues to fail today. Such a Minister of Defence must be replaced in order to achieve the goals of the war," Ben-Gvir demanded on Wednesday.

Ben-Gvir, notorious for his anti-Palestine hate and pro-war remarks, was reacting to Gallant's comments in which he said he was opposed to Israeli military control or taking responsibility for the governance of Gaza after the ongoing war.

"Since October, I have been raising this issue consistently in the cabinet, and have received no response," Gallant said in a televised statement.

"I must reiterate — I will not agree to the establishment of Israeli military rule in Gaza. Israel must not establish civilian rule in Gaza."

"I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza strip," Gallant said, calling for a "governing alternative to Hamas" immediately.

Gallant said the current military invasion in Gaza needed to be followed by political action.

"The day after Hamas will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas' rule," he said.

"This, above all, is in interest of the State of Israel."

Hamas 'to stay' in Gaza

Gallant's comments came soon after Netanyahu said any discussion on preparations concerning who rules Gaza after the war was just "empty talk" as long as Hamas resistance group remains in the besieged territory.

"Until it is clear that Hamas does not militarily control Gaza, no entity will be willing to take civilian management of Gaza for fear of its well-being," read a statement from Netanyahu's office.

Netanyahu has vowed to "destroy" Hamas and return all captives held in Gaza to their relatives in Israel.

Many experts including former Israeli army chief, who took responsibility for failure to prevent October 7 Hamas blitz, say it's impossible to free captives and dislodge Hamas from Gaza through military means.

"There was a lot of talk about the so-called day after the war," Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday. "We say that the Hamas movement is here to stay."

Hamas says its October 7 raid on Israeli military installations and settlements, that were once Arab villages, was orchestrated in response to daily Israeli attacks on Al Aqsa Mosque, illegal settler violence in occupied West Bank and to put Palestine question "back on the table."

The hours-long raid and Israeli military's haphazard reaction resulted in the killing of more than 1,130 people, Israeli officials and local media say.

Palestinian fighters took more than 250 hostages and presently 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli army says are dead, some of them killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes.

Israel has since then killed at least 35,233 Palestinians — majority of them babies, children and women — and wounded over 79,141 while some 10,000+ Palestinians are feared buried under the debris of bombed buildings amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Some 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face catastrophic levels of hunger, on the brink of starvation, and a full-blown famine is under way in the north, according to the UN.

In the occupied West Bank, nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded since October 7, along with daily arrest by the Israeli occupation army.

Nearly half a million Palestinians have been displaced in recent days by escalating Israeli military invasion in southern and northern Gaza, the United Nations says.

Around 600,000 Palestinians were driven out of Rafah in Gaza's south over the past week and around 100,000 others fled Israeli invasion in the territory’s north, the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees said.

There were roughly 1.5 million people sheltering in Rafah before Israel began pushing into the city. Some 80 percent of Gaza's population of 2.4 million Palestinians have fled their homes since the start of Israeli invasion, with many relocating multiple times.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.