Benjamin Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet; calm in Gaza after Joe Biden message

Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential War Cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza.

The War Cabinet was dissolved following the departure from the government of Benny Gantz, an opposition lawmaker who had joined the coalition in the early days of the war. He had demanded that a small Cabinet be formed as a way to sideline far-right lawmakers in Netanyahu's government. Gantz, Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant were its members and they made key decisions together throughout the war.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the change with the media, said Monday that going forward Netanyahu would hold smaller forums with some of his government members for sensitive issues.


Gantz, a longtime political rival of Netanyahu's, joined the government as a show of unity after Hamas' Oct 7 attack on southern Israel. He left the government earlier this month, citing frustration with Netanyahu's handling of the war.

Critics say Netanyahu's wartime decision-making has been influenced by ultranationalists in his government who oppose a deal that would bring about a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages. They have voiced support for the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and reoccupying the territory.

Lull in Gaza
Israel struck Gaza on Monday and witnesses reported blasts in the besieged territory's south, but fighting has largely subsided after a day of relative calm and as Muslims marked Eid al-Adha.

A daytime "pause" for aid deliveries around a southern Gaza route, announced at the weekend by Israel's military, appeared to be holding on Monday.

But witnesses told AFP they could hear blasts in the centre and west of the southernmost city of Rafah on Monday morning.

Elsewhere in the Palestinian territory, strikes and shelling have decreased. In Gaza City, medics at Al-Ahli hospital said at least five people were killed in two separate air strikes, and witnesses reported tank shelling in the southern neighbourhood of Zeitun.

At least one strike hit Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, residents said.

Palestinian officials in Rafah reported tank shelling early on Monday, before the start of the daily "local, tactical pause of military activity" announced by the army.

It said the pause "for humanitarian purposes will take place from 8:00 am (0500 GMT) until 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) every day until further notice along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Salah al-Din road and then northwards".

Earlier, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, aaid "there was no change" in the military's policy and stressed fighting "continues as planned".

An army spokesperson said the pause was in effect on Monday, and the military in a statement said troops were still operating in Rafah and central Gaza, reporting "close-quarters combat" that killed several militants.

A map released by the army showed the declared humanitarian route extending up to Rafah's European Hospital, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from Kerem Shalom.

Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Hamas-ruled territory, said that apart from the deadly Gaza City strikes overnight, "the other areas of the Gaza Strip are somewhat calm". He reported military movements and gunfire in parts of Rafah as well as Bureij camp in central Gaza.

On Sunday, the spokesman said "calm has prevailed across all of Gaza".