By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has asked to shift the security responsibility of the towns near the border with the Gaza Strip from the army to the police.
Ben-Gvir also requested to transfer 3,500 soldiers from compulsory service to the National Guard under his ministry, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.
According to KAN, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to allow the National Security Ministry to conscript reserve police officers instead of the Defense Ministry.
As for the conscripted soldiers, Netanyahu asked his military secretary to formulate an official position within a month, the broadcaster said.
In April, the Israeli government approved a plan to establish a new security arm called the "National Guard," directly under Ben-Gvir.
Israel has launched a massive military campaign on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 20,915 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,918 others, according to local health authorities.
Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory's housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid acute shortages of food and clean water.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio