Netanyahu running ‘one-man government,’ says Israel’s Ben-Gvir

JERUSALEM

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday of sidelining his coalition partners.

Netanyahu is running a "one-man government," Ben-Gvir said on X, accusing the premier of surrendering to what he called "terror on every front.”

The accusation followed Netanyahu’s refusal to allow the extremist to join a body that administers the Gaza war and has influence over war decisions.

"We did not join to be cheerleaders to the tribune. We came to influence," Ben-Gvir said.

Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service, and CIA Director William Burns arrived in Egypt on Monday for talks on a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal between Tel Aviv and Hamas.

For months, efforts by the US, Qatar, and Egypt to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a hostage exchange and cease-fire have been hampered by Netanyahu's rejection of Hamas' call to halt hostilities.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Over 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar