Earlier, the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that "the army's Southern Command will broadcast the Prime Minister's speech at the United Nations via loudspeakers inside the Gaza Strip today (Friday)."
"The Israeli army should not broadcast the governor's speeches over loudspeakers, endangering its soldiers in the field," Lapid said in a post on the X platform, describing the decision as "absolute madness unbecoming of a democratic state."
For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that "the families of the kidnapped (Israeli prisoners in Gaza) also expressed their criticism of the decision."
Although Netanyahu's office claimed in a statement that the speech would be broadcast via loudspeakers only along the Gaza border, an Israeli soldier said the loudspeakers were placed deep inside Gaza, according to the Israel Broadcasting Authority.
In turn, the private Israeli Channel 12 reported that "the Prime Minister's Office has in recent days asked the Israeli army to place loudspeakers at various locations inside Gaza so that the (Palestinian) population can hear Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations."
It quoted unnamed military sources as saying that "Netanyahu's office's request to broadcast the speech to residents of the Gaza Strip could pose an operational risk to soldiers, who would be forced to leave fortified positions to install loudspeakers."
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 65,549 martyrs and 167,518 injured, most of them children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians, including 147 children.
