On Sunday, Israel’s eight-month-long offensive in Gaza continued to rage, marked by new divisions within the Israeli government and a surge in civilian deaths. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces pressure from his main political rival, Benny Gantz, who threatens to leave the government if a plan for international administration of Gaza is not formulated by June 8. The split within the government comes as Israel’s War Cabinet discusses postwar plans for Gaza, but Netanyahu has rejected proposals for Palestinian statehood and insists on maintaining open-ended security control over the territory.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll continues to rise. An Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat, a built-up Palestinian refugee camp in central Gaza, killed 20 people, including eight women and four children. The strike hit a residential building, causing widespread destruction and trapping people under the rubble. A separate strike on a street in Nuseirat killed another five people, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service. In Deir al-Balah, a strike killed Zahed al-Houli, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police, and another man.
The fighting remains intense, with reports of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire in northern Gaza, where a famine is underway according to the World Food Program. Palestinians reported more airstrikes and heavy fighting in northern Gaza, which has been largely isolated by Israeli troops for months. The Civil Defense says the strikes hit several homes near Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya, killing at least 10 people. Footage released by the rescuers showed them trying to pull the body of a woman out of the rubble as explosions echo in the background and smoke rises. In the urban Jabliya refugee camp nearby, residents reported a heavy wave of artillery and airstrikes.
International pressure mounts on Israel, with the US expressing frustration over the conduct of the war and holding up a shipment of bombs, while also approving the sale of arms to support Israel’s offensive. President Joe Biden’s administration recently held up a shipment of 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) each and said the U.S. would not provide offensive weapons for a full-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing fears of a humanitarian catastrophe. But last week, after Israel launched what it says is a limited operation in Rafah, the administration told legislators it would move forward with the sale of $1 billion worth of arms, tank ammunition, tactical vehicles, and mortar rounds, according to congressional aides.
The US has been working on an ambitious plan in which Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel and join other Arab states in helping to administer and rebuild Gaza, in exchange for a US defense pact and help in building a civilian nuclear program. But US and Saudi officials say that deal requires Israel to agree to a credible path to eventual Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out. In Gantz’s ultimatum, he expressed support for normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. But he also said “we will not allow any outside power, friendly or hostile, to impose a Palestinian state on us.”
