The Israeli Broadcasting Authority confirmed that mediators are exerting significant pressure to halt Israel's plan to occupy the Gaza Strip and are attempting to bring both Hamas and Tel Aviv back to the negotiating table.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority quoted an unnamed Israeli source as saying, "There is no chance of returning to negotiations before the Gaza occupation plan is approved." The authority stressed on its website that mediators are exerting pressure on Hamas to return to the negotiating table, while simultaneously attempting to halt Tel Aviv's plan to occupy Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the decision to proceed with the occupation of Gaza during a closed-door meeting with ministers and security officials, according to what the Broadcasting Authority reported, citing an unnamed informed source.
The security cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss the plan to occupy Gaza, which Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir opposes, describing it as a "strategic trap."
Smotrich: I don't care about the Gazans
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich acknowledged his efforts to allocate funds to "support humanitarian needs" in the Gaza Strip in order to continue the war.
In a speech broadcast on his X account on Wednesday evening, the Israeli minister commented on a report published by the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority, which revealed that Smotrich is working to transfer billions of shekels from the Israeli budget for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza: "The people of Gaza do not concern me. What concerns me is victory and the complete destruction of Hamas."
Smotrich added: "The whole world is pressuring us. Europe is pressuring us to stop, Hamas wants us to stop, and so does the left in Israel."
He continued, "Anyone who follows me knows that I have been shouting since the beginning of the war: Hamas can only be defeated by cutting off aid to it, isolating it from the population, and strangling it economically," he said. He added, "If my proposals had been accepted, the war would have ended long ago, and we would have saved tens of billions of shekels."
Smotrich revealed that the war in Gaza has so far cost Israel 300 billion shekels ($87 billion). He added, "I am now seeking to establish a large security fund that we need to (finance those affected by) the war with Iran."
He continued, "I want to include it in the budget in case we have to fund aid for the people of Gaza ourselves, instead of continuing to send trucks to Hamas. The funding is currently international, but if necessary, we will do so."
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Smotrich added, "The military effort is very important, the maneuvering and the occupation. I hope that tomorrow in the security cabinet we will make a clear decision to attack the entire Gaza Strip, occupy it completely, and defeat Hamas militarily."
He added, "But without civil and economic strangulation, there is no chance of victory in the world. This is the way to bring back the kidnapped. This is the path to victory."
The cabinet is scheduled to meet tomorrow, Thursday, to discuss the plan to occupy Gaza, which Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir opposes, describing it as a "strategic trap."
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israel Broadcasting Authority revealed that the Israeli Finance Ministry had discussed in recent days the possibility of bypassing the 2025 state budget to increase the defense budget. The authority continued, "During these discussions, Smotrich demanded that the budget increase include 3 billion shekels (approximately $875 million) for humanitarian needs in Gaza."
The broadcaster continued at the time: "It remains unclear whether this money is allocated to establish what the minister called a 'humanitarian city,' or whether it is directed to the humanitarian aid mechanism, which depends on the cabinet's decisions regarding the continuation of operations in Gaza."
In response to the commission's report, Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman said, "Smotrich intends to transfer 3 billion shekels to Hamas, while aid trucks in Gaza travel alongside our fighters, endangering them." He added, "This madness must stop. Funding terrorism is a betrayal of Israel's citizens and soldiers."
In turn, Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz asked on the X platform: "Is this your solution? To take billions of shekels from the pockets of Israeli citizens—from education, housing, and healthcare for our children—in order to distribute aid to the residents of Gaza?"
Amid Israel's systematic starvation of Palestinians, the government media office in Gaza announced that only 853 aid trucks entered the Strip in 10 days, out of approximately 6,000 trucks that should have entered to meet the minimum needs.
Recently, the World Food Programme warned that "a third of Gaza's population has not eaten for several days," describing the humanitarian situation in the Strip as "unprecedented in levels of hunger and despair."
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and displacement, ignoring international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, with American support, left 61,158 Palestinian martyrs and 151,442 wounded, most of them children and women. More than 9,000 people remain missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that claimed the lives of many.
