'Crazy and delusional': Cabinet livid as Israel announces daily Gaza 'pause' for aid deliveries

Israel's military said it would "pause" fighting around a south Gaza route on a daily basis to facilitate aid deliveries, following months of allegations of forced starvation in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The announcement of a "local, tactical pause of military activity" during daylight hours in an area of Rafah came a day after eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast near the far-southern city and three more troops died elsewhere, in one of the heaviest days of losses for the army in its war on Gaza.

UN agencies and aid groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm of dire shortages of food and other essentials in the Gaza Strip, exacerbated by Israel's overland access restrictions and its closure of the key Rafah crossing with Egypt since Israeli forces seized it in early May.

The United States, which has been pressing close ally Israel and Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan laid out by President Joe Biden, on Friday imposed sanctions on an extremist Israeli group for blocking and attacking Gaza-bound aid convoys.

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Israel has long defended its efforts to let aid into Gaza, including via its Kerem Shalom border near Rafah, claiming that militants were looting supplies and blaming humanitarian workers for failing to distribute them to civilians.

However, high ranking members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau's government have heavily criticised the military's plans for a "tactical pause" along the humanitarian aid corridor in southern Gaza, calling it a "crazy and delusional approach."

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich joined his colleague Ben-Gvir in slamming the announcement, claiming on X that much of the aid getting into Gaza, where nearly all people are food insecure, is serving Hamas, thus prolonging the war.

A "tactical pause" for humanitarian aid, he said, wrongly prioritized international legitimacy over "victory", adding that the only way to win the war was to occupy Gaza and impose a temporary military government there.

The announcement came as Muslims the world over mark Eid al-Adha, or the feast of the sacrifice.

"This Eid is completely different," said Umm Muhammad al-Katri in northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp. "We've lost many people, there's a lot of destruction. We don't have the joy we usually have," she said.

Instead of a cheerful holiday spirit, "I came to the Eid prayers mourning. I've lost my son."

Israel to 'cling' to war goals

There were no reports of strikes, shelling or fighting on Sunday morning, though the Israeli military stressed in a statement there was "no cessation of hostilities in the southern Gaza Strip."

The military said the eight soldiers killed Saturday were hit by an explosion as they were travelling in an armored vehicle near Rafah, where troops were engaged in fierce street battles against Palestinian militants.

Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the blast was "apparently from an explosive device planted in the area or from the firing of an anti-tank missile."

Separately, two soldiers were killed in battles in northern Gaza and another succumbed to wounds inflicted in recent fighting.

Abu Obaida, spokesman for Hamas's military wing, vowed to "continue our painful strikes against the enemy wherever it may be."

Saturday's heavy losses brought the Israeli military's overall toll to 309 deaths since it began its its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27.

With further anger over the loss of the soldiers' lives, tens of thousands protesters rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday, taking to the streets calling for the release of hostages and in protest of the government. 

Although surveys show solid support among the Israeli public for continuing the war, the protests, which are a regular event in Tel Aviv, underscore the divisions in Israeli society that have reopened following a period of unity at the start of the war.

The deaths of eight Israeli soldiers on Saturday may further complicate the political situation facing Netanyahu, a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no proper strategy for Gaza.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas following the Palestinian group's October 7 attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people. Its counter offensive has now killed at least 37,296 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian officials.

Meanwhile, of the 251 hostages seized on October 7, 116 remain in Gaza, although Israel says 41 are dead.

'Wider conflict'

World Food Programme deputy executive director Carl Skau said recently that "with lawlessness inside the Strip... and active conflict", it has become "close to impossible to deliver the level of aid that meets the growing demands on the ground."

G7 leaders on Friday said aid agencies must be allowed to work unhindered in Gaza, calling for the "rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need."

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators have been pushing for a new Gaza truce since a one-week pause in November which also saw hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, and increased aid deliveries into the Palestinian territory.

Hamas has demanded the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire, terms which Israel has repeatedly rejected.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken has said Israel backs the latest plan, but Netanyahu, whose far-right coalition partners are strongly opposed to a ceasefire, has not publicly endorsed it.

Israel's hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Sunday the humanitarian pause announced by the military was part of a "crazy and delusional approach."

As diplomatic efforts have stalled, fears of the war spilling over into a broader Middle East conflict have been rekindled by an escalation of tit-for-tat violence between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.

Hezbollah said intense strikes since Wednesday were retaliation for Israel's killing of one of its commanders. Israeli forces responded with air strike and shelling across the border, the military said.

The two top UN officials in Lebanon called on all sides to cease fire. "The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real," they said in a joint statement.

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