Gantz, a rival of Netanyahu, steps down from Israel's war cabinet.
The leader of the opposition, Gantz, claimed that Israel's unsuccessful battle against Hamas necessitates fresh elections in order to establish a government blessed with people's trust and capable of tackling current challenges. Gantz urged Netanyahu to fix a date for early parliamentary elections. His center-right unity bloc had submitted a proposed bill to dissolve the Israeli parliament the pre-week and requested early elections.
As Netanyahu's primary political opponent, Gantz is anticipated to unseat Netanyahu if the administration collapses and elections are held early.
Gantz had expressed that if Netanyahu and his right-religious government didn't provide a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip by June 8, he would step down. Nevertheless, Gantz scrapped a news conference scheduled for Saturday evening once the Israeli army made public their successful retrieval of four Israeli detainees from Hamas.
In mid-May, Gantz served as former defense minister and ex-army chief, stepped down from his oppositional role, and joined Israel's war board as a minister without portfolio. However, he insisted on a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip from the government the previous month.
The scheme should comprise strategic ambitions, namely the debilitating of Hamas, the disarming of the Gaza Strip, the safeguarding of Israeli control over the region, and the reinstatement of hostages. Furthermore, Gantz envisages a "multinational, US, European, Arab, and Palestinian administration" to regulate civil tasks in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu termed these requests as "empty talk" and charged Gantz with overseeing "a defeat for Israel, the release of most hostages, an unscathed Hamas, and the creation of a Palestinian state."
On Sunday, Netanyahu directly reacted to Gantz's resignation. "Benny, this isn't the moment to surrender - it's the time to cooperate," Netanyahu communicated in a virtual platform.
Since October 7, the Israeli military has been assaulting the Gaza Strip against Hamas. The war was I prompted by a mass assault by Hamas on Israel, resulting in 1,194 fatalities and 251 individuals kidnapped as prisoners in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli assessments. 116 hostages remain under Hamas' hold, as per the Israeli army. 41 of them are said to have been mortally wounded.
In reprisal for Hamas' assault, Israel has been engaged in a considerable military offensive in the Gaza Strip since then. As per numbers from the Hamas-controlled health ministry, over 37,000 individuals have lost their lives so far. These numbers couldn't be validated independently.
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- Gantz, as the opposition leader and Netanyahu's rival, called for early parliamentary elections to form a government with the people's trust, citing the unsuccessful war against Hamas in Gaza Strip as a reason.
- Gantz had proposed a bill to dissolve the Israeli parliament and requested early elections if Netanyahu's government failed to present a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip by June 8.
- Gantz had stepped down from his oppositional role and joined Israel's war cabinet as a minister without portfolio in mid-May, insisting on a post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip previously.
- After a successful retrieval of four Israeli detainees from Hamas, Gantz canceled a news conference scheduled for Saturday evening and stayed in the war cabinet.
- If elected in the new parliamentary election, Gantz intends to implement a post-war strategy that includes debilitating Hamas, disarming the Gaza Strip, protecting Israeli control, and establishing a multinational administration to manage civil tasks in the Gaza Strip.
- Netanyahu criticized Gantz's post-war strategy proposals, labeling them as "empty talk" and blaming him for overseeing "a defeat for Israel, the release of most hostages, an unscathed Hamas, and the creation of a Palestinian state."
