National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized the IDF after it announced an 11-hour “tactical ceasefire” in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Sunday morning.
An Israeli army statement issued early Sunday morning, in English only, noted that the temporary suspension would be in place along the road leading from the Kerem Shalom checkpoint to Salah al-Din between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The Israel Defense Forces said the pause in military operations in the area was for humanitarian purposes.
Ben Gvir: The evil fools who made this decision should resign
“The management of the humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip has been lackluster over the past few months,” Smotrich wrote on social media. “The sobering statements of the IDF spokesman do not in any way reflect the changes taking place on the ground.”
“The problem is that the IDF General Staff is completely out of touch with the feelings of its ground troops. To make such a statement on the day we buried 11 of our best fighters. To focus all day on establishing international legitimacy, instead of leaving that to the political class and focusing on winning the war.”
In a post by X. Ben Gvir, he called on “the evil fools who decided on a tactical pause” to resign, a decision he claimed “was not put before Cabinet and goes against Cabinet decisions.”
“It’s time to end this insanity and paranoia approach that only leads to deaths and casualties,” the national security minister continued. His comments were later condemned by former Labor leader Merav Michaeli, who accused Ben Gvir of trying to “shift the blame for October onto the IDF.”
“That won’t help. The blood will be on your hands and the evidence will come out.”
Netanyahu: 11th-hour tactical ceasefire in Rafah unacceptable
Following the IDF announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement through a “senior Israeli official,” stressing that “when the prime minister heard the report of the 11-hour humanitarian ceasefire this morning, he made it clear to his military chief that this was unacceptable.”
“Test results, [Netanyahu] We have received assurances that there has been no change in IDF policy and that military operations in Rafah will continue as planned.”
Following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement, the Israel Defense Forces stated in Hebrew that “fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and Rafah has not stopped, and there will be no changes to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
