Netanyahu fires his defense minister, strikes in Lebanon and Syria

(Beirut) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, with whom relations had become tense during the war in Gaza, and appointed the current head of diplomacy Israel Katz in his place.

“In the midst of war, trust is required more than ever between the prime minister and his defense minister,” but “in recent months, this trust has been eroded,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a letter addressed to Mr. Gallant, adding that he “chose to appoint Minister Israel Katz to replace him.”

“Significant differences emerged between Mr. Gallant and myself in the conduct of the campaign [militaire]accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted the decisions of the government and the cabinet,” he added.

Yoav Gallant responded on X that “the security of Israel has been and will remain the mission of [sa] vie « .

The current head of diplomacy, Israel Katz, “has already demonstrated his capabilities and contributions to national security,” Mr. Netanyahu wrote to explain his choice.

Mr. Katz has served as finance minister, intelligence minister and served “for a long time” in the security cabinet, he said. Nicknamed the “Bulldozer,” Mr. Katz “combines the responsibility and calm problem-solving qualities that are essential to leading this campaign.”

A former general who became a politician, Mr. Gallant was nevertheless considered a “hawk” within the government in the conduct of operations since the bloody attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 on southern Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.

After more than a year of war on several fronts, the army’s numbers are under pressure and in recent months, it has drawn the wrath of the ultra-Orthodox parties, key allies of the prime minister’s coalition, by ordering the conscription of 10,000 male members of this religious community old enough to serve under the flags.

They make up about 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, or nearly 1.3 million people, and about 66,000 military-age men are exempt because they dedicate themselves to the study of the sacred texts of the Judaism under a rule established at the creation of Israel in 1948.

In 2018, the question of their conscription had created such a crisis that it had precipitated the country towards several legislative elections in four years, without the subject being closed.

Gideon Saar, current minister without portfolio in the Israeli government, was named Minister of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, following the dismissal of the Minister of Defense, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced.

Israel targets Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria

Israel, in open war against Lebanese Hezbollah, carried out strikes on Tuesday on different regions of Lebanon and targeted arms depots of the pro-Iranian formation in Syria.

A strike targeted a residential building in the coastal town of Jiyeh, about twenty kilometers south of Beirut, leaving one dead and around twenty injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

A security source told AFP that an apartment belonging to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah had been targeted.

The top floor of the building, which has four, was destroyed by the strike, according to an AFP correspondent on site.

“I was going into the kitchen when I heard a loud noise […] I ran away from the house,” Malika Hajj, a resident of the area, told AFP.

In the south and east of Lebanon, where Hezbollah is established, several localities were targeted by Israeli aircraft and artillery, according to the National News Agency ANI.

In the village of Bouyout al-Siyad (South), bombed by Israel on October 31, Red Cross rescuers, assisted by the Lebanese army, said they had removed the bodies of seven people.

Rescue teams had previously been unable to reach this village near the city of Tire due to the intensity of the bombing.

Hezbollah, for its part, claimed to have launched drones and rockets against northern Israel, and to have fired rockets at Israeli soldiers in the border regions of southern Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister fired

“Immense needs”

In the aftermath of the war in Gaza, triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil, Hezbollah, in support of the Palestinian movement, opened a front against Israel, which degenerated into open war last September.

Since September 23, Israel has intensified its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which have left more than 1,964 dead, according to an AFP count based on data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Israeli army launched a ground offensive on September 30 in the border areas in southern Lebanon and fighting there pitted its troops against Hezbollah.

More than a million people have been displaced by the war according to the government.

In Geneva, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a fundraising appeal for 100 million Swiss francs (160 million Canadian dollars) to support around 600,000 people affected by the conflict in Lebanon.

These funds will make it possible to provide them with “immediate and long-term assistance” and also to support the ambulance services of the Lebanese Red Cross, according to her.

“The humanitarian needs in Lebanon are increasing day by day,” said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain in the press release issued at the end of his visit to Beirut. “The needs are immense. »

Israeli raid in Syria

Furthermore, the Israeli air force carried out a strike in Syria on Tuesday against Hezbollah, which is based in this neighboring country of Lebanon where it supports the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli army, which rarely admits its strikes in Syria, said in a statement that its “air force carried out a strike against weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah in Qusayr” in the center of the Syria, near the Lebanese border.

Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on the neighboring country targeting the Syrian army and Tehran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, deployed in support of Syrian government forces.

The rate of these strikes has increased in recent weeks. Israel has previously targeted crossing points between Syria and Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of using them to transport weapons from Syria.

13 dead in Gaza

At least 13 Palestinians, including displaced people, were killed by nighttime Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip devastated by more than a year of war, Civil Defense in the besieged Palestinian territory said Tuesday.

Of the 13 people killed, four died when an Israeli strike hit a family home in the east of Gaza City (north), Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.

Three other people were killed and several injured when a tent housing displaced people was hit by another Israeli strike in the east of the town of Khan Younes (South), according to Mr. Bassal.

In Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Bassal reported at least four deaths after a tent was hit by an Israeli raid overnight.

Finally, the Civil Defense spokesperson reported two people killed by other Israeli airstrikes.

Entire sectors of the Gaza Strip have been reduced to ruins and almost all of its 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced at least once during the war between Israel and Hamas which has caused serious humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli army said Tuesday that it was continuing its ground and air offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, where according to Civil Defense, hundreds of people have been killed since the operation began a month ago. .