National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hit out at the IDF after it announced an eleven-hour ‘tactical pause’ in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday morning.
An early Sunday statement by the Israeli military, sent exclusively in English, noted that the pause would occur between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. along the road leading from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to Salah al-Din.
The IDF stated that the pause of military operations in the area would be carried out for humanitarian purposes.
Ben-Gvir: The evil fool who made this decision must resign
“The management of humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip…has been lackluster for the past few months,” Smotrich wrote on social media. “The IDF Spokesperson’s detached statement did not reflect any change happening on the ground.
“The problem is that the IDF’s general staff is completely detached from the feeling among the troops on the ground…it’s that it would publish such a statement on the day in which we bury 11 of our best fighters. It’s that it focuses all day on creating international legitimacy instead of leaving that to the political echelon instead of centering its attention on winning the war.”
Ben-Gvir called on the “evil fool who decided on a tactical pause” to resign from their position in a post on X. Ben-Gvir, who claimed that the decision “was not brought to a cabinet vote and is contrary to its decisions.
The national security minister continued, writing, “It’s time to…stop the crazy and delusional approach which only leads to deaths and fallen soldiers.” His comments were later condemned by former Labor leader MK Merav Michaeli, who accused Ben-Gvir of attempting to “shift the responsibility of October onto the IDF.
“It will not help you. The bloodstains are on your hands, and the receipt will come.”
Netanyahu: Eleven-hour tactical pause in Rafah is unacceptable
Following the IDF’s announcement, Netanyahu sent a statement through a “senior Israeli official,” stressing that “when the prime minister heard the reports of a humanitarian pause for 11 hours this morning, he clarified to his military secretary that it is unacceptable.
“Following examination, [Netanyahu] was reassured that there is no change in the IDF’s policy and that military operations in Rafah will continue as planned.”
Following Netanyahu’s statement, the IDF released a Hebrew-language clarification stating that “there is no pause in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip or Rafah. Additionally, no changes have been made to the entry of humanitarian goods to the Strip.”
