By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprised members of the Israeli Security Cabinet on Thursday evening by putting the issue of the Israeli army's continued presence on the Philadelphi Corridor along the border between Gaza and Egypt up for a vote.
According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the meeting saw a tense shouting between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The newspaper quoted Gallant sarcastically telling Netanyahu during the discussion: “The prime minister can make all the decisions and can also decide to kill all the abductees.”
Gallant criticized Netanyahu for allegedly imposing strategic maps for the area on the Israeli army, to which Netanyahu responded angrily: “I am not ready to hear that,” and demanded that the maps be brought to the Cabinet for approval, the report added.
“Gallant made a mistake, and that's why everyone aligned against him. This was the most difficult clash that can be remembered between Netanyahu and Gallant. Netanyahu isolated Galant completely. In such situations, the minister of defense may hand over the key (resign),” the report cited unnamed sources present at the meeting as saying.
Media reports in Israel have suggested that Gallant favors a prisoner exchange deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, even if it means withdrawing the Israeli army from the Philadelphi Corridor, arguing that the army can return at any time if needed.
In this respect, the daily pointed out that “Netanyahu told Gallant that he is trying to impose his position on a fundamental position in the negotiations and emphasized that the defense minister's working assumption, according to which the absence of a deal will lead to a regional flare-up, is incorrect, especially after the plan received the approval of the Americans.”
It said that Netanyahu claimed that Gallant is actually sending a message to Hamas that they must press on the Philadelphi issue so that Israel will fold.
- 'Gallant's dismissal'
The report cited sources close to Netanyahu as saying that: “Gallant's dismissal is not on the agenda, and if the defense minister chooses to resign, ‘that is his business’.”
“There is only one prime minister here,” the same sources emphasized, referring to Netanyahu.
Two senior Cabinet ministers who attended the meeting told the newspaper that “Gallant lost it completely; a defense minister cannot lose his temper in a Cabinet debate.”
During the meeting, ministers voted unanimously in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stance to keep the Israeli army on the Philadelphi route, a key area along the Gaza-Egypt border.
The defense minister was the only one to vote against this position, emphasizing the need to prioritize the lives of hostages in Gaza over military presence on the corridor.
Gallant, who got into a shouting match with the prime minister, made it clear that the army “has the option of returning to any place after that, and that no tunnel is dug in six weeks,” the report explained.
National Security Minister Ben-Gvir's absence was reportedly due to discussions about a gradual reduction of forces along the Philadelphi Corridor as part of a potential agreement, while he supports the full presence of forces in the area and throughout the Gaza Strip, according to sources close to him cited by Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN.
The Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.69-mile) demilitarized buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, remains one of the major sticking points in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Israel has continued its offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
The onslaught has resulted in over 40,600 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,800 injuries, according to local health authorities.
An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.
Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio