Israeli PM pressured as party threatens to quit cabinet
A member of Israel's religious-nationalist coalition has threatened to quit the cabinet and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu's coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in the Gaza Strip prompted by the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October 2023.
United Torah Judaism, one of two ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, said it would withdraw from the government unless it secured last-minute concessions formalising an exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from military service.
The opposition party Yesh Atid, led by former prime minister Yair Lapid, put forward a parliamentary vote for next week to topple the government, even as the Israeli army continues battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
It would require the support of 61 out of the 120 members of the parliament to succeed.
"This Knesset (parliament) is finished. It has nowhere to go," Lapid said.
Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, has remained silent on the looming crisis.
A spokesperson for United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf told Reuters the party would vote in favour of dissolving parliament unless exemption legislation was passed.
With a week until the vote, Netanyahu and his allies still have time to negotiate over an issue that has dogged the coalition for months.
A source close to the government said, on condition of anonymity, that negotiations within the coalition were continuing.
Netanyahu's coalition of secular conservative and ultra-Orthodox parties holds an eight-seat majority in parliament.
United Torah Judaism has seven seats while its ally, Shas, the other ultra-Orthodox party, has 11.
The coalition is sharply divided over whether young ultra-Orthodox men who are studying in religious seminaries should be exempt from mandatory military service.
Failing to pass an exemption risks a walkout by ultra-Orthodox MPs, while approving it could trigger a protest exit by secular parties.
Coalition member Ohad Tal of Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party criticised Goldknopf for threatening to trigger elections and called on the ultra-Orthodox MP to resign.
He urged others to negotiate a new arrangement but that a blanket exemption from military service could no longer stand.
Former Knesset member Ofer Shelah said Netanyahu was likely betting the ultra-Orthodox MPs were bluffing, given the polls suggested they faced defeat in any early election.
In March, ultra-Orthodox MPs threatened to bring down the government over the same issue, but time passed without any action.
Resentment over the informal exemption given to religious seminary students is growing and MPs from the ruling coalition and opposition ranks say it is no longer tenable.
Netanyahu won election in 2022 and does not have to return to the polls until 2026.
Historically, few Israeli governments serve a full term.
He has faced widespread criticism for failing to prevent the surprise October 2023 Hamas attack that killed about 1200 people, and is facing growing calls from protesters and families of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip to end the war to secure their release.
But some in his coalition say the war must continue until Hamas is eradicated.
Political analysts say that the ultra-Orthodox MPs could simply quit the government to protest their failure to secure concessions, without toppling the ruling coalition.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Gaza aid distribution halts, Eid marked by violence
With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip. Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south. In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure. "The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement. As Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued military operations that they say are needed to root out and destroy Hamas militants. The Israeli military was rocked by the deaths of four soldiers in a booby-trapped building, which brought the army death toll to eight since the start of June. "It is a sad and difficult day," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The army earlier issued new evacuation orders for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of an imminent attack. With many residential areas of Gaza reduced to rubble by months of fighting, locals held Eid al-Adha prayer services in the open, next to bombed-out mosques and homes. "As you can see, we are holding Eid prayers, while the bombing, shelling and planes are ongoing," said one woman, Umm Mahmoud, in Khan Younis. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It suspended operations on Wednesday and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3. Eyewitness blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" who were advancing towards their positions. The army said on Friday that Gazans should only move to and from the GHF distribution centres from 6am to 6pm local time. Outside daylight hours these access routes should be considered a closed military zone. "Entering it poses a significant risk to your life," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. However, many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start traveling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. Palestinians have described the distribution process as chaotic and poorly organised, and say limited supplies have led to early morning crushes on access routes. On Friday, the GHF said it had delivered 8160 boxes of food, providing approximately 471,240 individual meals. Since launching its operations, the GHF has opened three sites, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning. With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip. Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south. In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure. "The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement. As Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued military operations that they say are needed to root out and destroy Hamas militants. The Israeli military was rocked by the deaths of four soldiers in a booby-trapped building, which brought the army death toll to eight since the start of June. "It is a sad and difficult day," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The army earlier issued new evacuation orders for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of an imminent attack. With many residential areas of Gaza reduced to rubble by months of fighting, locals held Eid al-Adha prayer services in the open, next to bombed-out mosques and homes. "As you can see, we are holding Eid prayers, while the bombing, shelling and planes are ongoing," said one woman, Umm Mahmoud, in Khan Younis. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It suspended operations on Wednesday and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3. Eyewitness blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" who were advancing towards their positions. The army said on Friday that Gazans should only move to and from the GHF distribution centres from 6am to 6pm local time. Outside daylight hours these access routes should be considered a closed military zone. "Entering it poses a significant risk to your life," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. However, many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start traveling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. Palestinians have described the distribution process as chaotic and poorly organised, and say limited supplies have led to early morning crushes on access routes. On Friday, the GHF said it had delivered 8160 boxes of food, providing approximately 471,240 individual meals. Since launching its operations, the GHF has opened three sites, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning. With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip. Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south. In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure. "The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement. As Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued military operations that they say are needed to root out and destroy Hamas militants. The Israeli military was rocked by the deaths of four soldiers in a booby-trapped building, which brought the army death toll to eight since the start of June. "It is a sad and difficult day," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The army earlier issued new evacuation orders for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of an imminent attack. With many residential areas of Gaza reduced to rubble by months of fighting, locals held Eid al-Adha prayer services in the open, next to bombed-out mosques and homes. "As you can see, we are holding Eid prayers, while the bombing, shelling and planes are ongoing," said one woman, Umm Mahmoud, in Khan Younis. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It suspended operations on Wednesday and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3. Eyewitness blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" who were advancing towards their positions. The army said on Friday that Gazans should only move to and from the GHF distribution centres from 6am to 6pm local time. Outside daylight hours these access routes should be considered a closed military zone. "Entering it poses a significant risk to your life," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. However, many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start traveling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. Palestinians have described the distribution process as chaotic and poorly organised, and say limited supplies have led to early morning crushes on access routes. On Friday, the GHF said it had delivered 8160 boxes of food, providing approximately 471,240 individual meals. Since launching its operations, the GHF has opened three sites, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning. With severe food shortages plaguing the coastal enclave, fighting continued in many areas of the Gaza Strip. Local health authorities said 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes, mostly in northern Gaza, while the Israeli army said four of its soldiers were killed and five were wounded by an explosion in a building in Khan Younis to the south. In a day of confusing messaging, the GHF first announced its distribution sites in southern Gaza were closed, then it revealed that it had actually handed out food, before saying that it had had to close its gates as a precautionary measure. "The distribution was conducted peacefully and without incident; however, it was paused due to excessive crowding that made it unsafe to proceed," it said in a statement. As Palestinians across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip marked the start of one of Islam's most important holidays, Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued military operations that they say are needed to root out and destroy Hamas militants. The Israeli military was rocked by the deaths of four soldiers in a booby-trapped building, which brought the army death toll to eight since the start of June. "It is a sad and difficult day," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The army earlier issued new evacuation orders for areas in and around Gaza City, warning of an imminent attack. With many residential areas of Gaza reduced to rubble by months of fighting, locals held Eid al-Adha prayer services in the open, next to bombed-out mosques and homes. "As you can see, we are holding Eid prayers, while the bombing, shelling and planes are ongoing," said one woman, Umm Mahmoud, in Khan Younis. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It suspended operations on Wednesday and asked the Israeli military to review security protocols after hospital officials said more than 80 people had been shot dead and hundreds wounded near distribution points between June 1-3. Eyewitness blamed Israeli soldiers for the killings. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots on two days, while on Tuesday it said soldiers had fired at Palestinian "suspects" who were advancing towards their positions. The army said on Friday that Gazans should only move to and from the GHF distribution centres from 6am to 6pm local time. Outside daylight hours these access routes should be considered a closed military zone. "Entering it poses a significant risk to your life," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. However, many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they have to start traveling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food. Palestinians have described the distribution process as chaotic and poorly organised, and say limited supplies have led to early morning crushes on access routes. On Friday, the GHF said it had delivered 8160 boxes of food, providing approximately 471,240 individual meals. Since launching its operations, the GHF has opened three sites, but over the past two days, only two of them have been functioning.
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
All universities in Gaza have been destroyed. What does this mean for Palestinians?
The Islamic University of Gaza was once a buzzing campus, filled with ambitious students studying everything from medicine to literature. Now, displaced families huddle in its ruined classrooms, burning school books for kindling. Israeli bombardment during the Israel-Gaza war destroyed its main auditorium; its rows of seats are now charred and crumpled. Tents are pitched next to piles of rubble, in buildings that once housed esteemed scholars. Among their alumni are award-winning poets, journalists, professors and — far more controversially — Hamas leaders. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the last remaining university in the Gaza region was destroyed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 2024. Wesam Amer is the dean of the faculty of communication and languages at another institution, Gaza University, and began his tenure there in 2020. "We already have a generation lost in Gaza; a generation of students, a generation of academics," he tells ABC Radio National's Late Night Live. He says the initial ground invasion in Gaza prevented students from attending campuses at the beginning of the war. All levels of in-person teaching stopped in early November, 2023. Dr Amer says he suspects Israel wants to eliminate the ability of Palestinian people to gain an education, "because education in Palestine, and for Palestinians, is existence". "And existence is resistance as well," he says. Dr Amer was forced to flee Gaza shortly after the war began and has been teaching online from the UK since May 2024. On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants undertook a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, and taking around 240 hostage. Israel's response has been an extensive bombing campaign and a ground invasion of Gaza which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says aims to "eliminate" Hamas. Gaza's health ministry says more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed. Even before the current war, universities were functioning under extreme conditions, says Mona Jebril, a Palestinian academic and research associate at the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge University. Dr Jebril taught at University of Palestine and later Al-Azhar University between 2006 and 2012. Like any professor, her days were spent preparing lessons, marking assignments and ensuring her students showed up on time. However, Dr Jebril says she frequently experienced power outages in Gaza lasting between six to 12 hours. They would happen so suddenly that she began to change her sleep schedule so she could prepare her lessons during times when the electricity came back on. "And then I go to the university, and there is no electricity, so in the end I [couldn't] use it." Her students also faced limitations from these power outages and would often question the relevance of subjects like philosophy to their reality. "I remember one student once asked me, 'What is the relevance of Plato to Gaza? How would learning Plato improve our lives here?'," she says. Many were more concerned with finding jobs than doing school work. Data from the Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Studies shows youth unemployment is at 70 per cent in Gaza. "Many know that they won't actually get a job because they have seen other graduates who are not able to find employment," says Dr Jebril. Dr Jebril left Gaza in 2012 to study a PhD at Cambridge University in the UK and has not been able to return home. She doesn't know which of her relatives, colleagues and students are still alive after the war. "I constantly think about them … I don't know who's still alive or who actually has been killed," she says. For many academics in the region, choosing to leave is a difficult decision. Dr Amer says he was ultimately forced to leave Gaza because of the war. "It was not … like a personal decision," he says. He attempted to leave Gaza four times before he finally made it out. Dr Amer studied in Germany so he reached out to the German embassy, which agreed to help he and his family leave. In November 2023, Dr Amer had to transport his wife, who was in her last month of pregnancy, and his two daughters to the Rafah crossing. "We were the only people on the street, actually, and driving from Khan Yunis to Rafah, you can imagine the risks and the dangers we went through until we reached the Rafah crossing," he says. Now Dr Amer is working as a visiting researcher at Cambridge University, and living with his family in the UK. In a press release last year, UN experts expressed grave concern over the attacks on educational facilities in the Gaza Strip, including universities. The IDF claims campuses, such as the Islamic University of Gaza, are used by Hamas. "The [Islamic University of Gaza] was being used as a Hamas training camp for military intelligence operatives, as well as for the development and production of weapons," an IDF statement from October 2023 says. Images of various weapons, explosives and other technological devices were also released by the IDF, which they claim were found at Al-Azhar University. However, there has also been some criticism from within Israel of the attacks on Gaza, including their educational system. In May 2025, more than 1000 academics released an open letter addressed to the leading Israeli academic institutions calling for an end to the conflict. The letter criticises the "complete elimination of the educational system" in Gaza and highlights the role of higher education and academics in the war. Based on their experience at the universities past and present, Dr Amer and Dr Jebril reject claims Hamas is affiliated with the insitutions. "But this [Hamas affiliation] is not true because I've been working in Gaza since 2020, and I've been teaching, mainly at Gaza University and also at other universities. We have much independence in our universities," Dr Amer says. He adds that focusing on quality research and educating students is the objective of these universities. He believes the attacks are an attempt by Israel to suppress the intellectual expression of the Palestinian community and impede their recovery after the war. "Israel tries its best to undermine Palestinian identity … [and prevents] restoring essential political and socio-economic conditions, because education is seen as a source of economic stability for many Palestinian families," he says. The destruction of these universities also has significant implications for the preservation and transmission of Palestinian culture, Dr Jebril says. She says that before the founding of the Islamic University of Gaza in 1978, Palestinians would have to go to neighbouring countries to study, where they would not learn about their cultural history. She says the history of the Palestinian struggle for education is represented in the building of the universities. "There is a history linked to the resistance of Palestinians that is connected to these spaces," Dr Jebril says. "So destroying the university … is actually a destruction of the memory of the resistance of the past." Despite the conflict, Dr Amer continues to teach and mentor his students, with many in Gaza depending on solar panels to power the few electronics they have at their disposal. Three of the largest public universities in Gaza, Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University of Gaza, have formed an 'Emergency Committee' to ensure teaching continues and those in the region stay connected with the international academic community. "Academics and students [are] really clinging to these opportunities to feel alive, to convey their voice, to represent their community, but also to keep their hopes," Dr Jebril says. Methods of support include offering students virtual opportunities to continue learning. Oxford University has granted students from Gaza and the West Bank access to the Bodleian Libraries. "Which is really important because … all libraries and other resources are destroyed," Dr Jebril says. Despite the destruction, Dr Amer hopes universities in Gaza will be able to rebuild. "To move forward, we need coordinated efforts to rehabilitate infrastructure, provide mobile learning units, create digital academic libraries, and strengthen international academic solidarity," he says. However, Dr Amer says supporting education in Gaza goes beyond restoring buildings and providing reading materials — it relies on the resilience of students in the face of significant psychological trauma.
9 News
16 hours ago
- 9 News
Israel confirms it is arming Hamas rivals in operation opposition calls 'complete madness'
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Israel is arming local militias in Gaza in an effort to counter Hamas in the besieged enclave, officials say, as opposition politicians warned that the move endangers national security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the covert enterprise on Thursday, calling it "a good thing." In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu said Israel had "activated clans in Gaza which oppose Hamas," and that it was done "under the advice of security elements." Opposition leader Yair Lapid speaks in Israel's parliament in October last year. (Debbie Hill/AP via CNN Newsource) Former defence minister and Netanyahu rival Avigdor Liberman divulged the move on Israel's Channel 12 News on Wednesday, saying that Israel was distributing rifles to extremist groups in Gaza and describing the operation as "complete madness." "We're talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza," Liberman said one day later on Israel's Army Radio, adding that Israel is providing weapons to "crime families in Gaza on Netanyahu's orders." "No one can guarantee that these weapons will not be directed towards Israel," he said, a warning echoed by one of the officials who spoke with CNN. After Liberman's revelation, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying, "Israel is acting to defeat Hamas in various ways upon the recommendation of the heads of the security establishment." The ongoing operation was authorised by Netanyahu without security cabinet approval, two officials told CNN, which is the normal forum for making major policy decisions. Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners would likely have vetoed such a move. Meanwhile, Hamas said the plan revealed "a grave and undeniable truth." Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood in October 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) In a statement, the militant group said: "The Israeli occupation army is arming criminal gangs in the Gaza Strip with the aim of creating a state of insecurity and social chaos." One group that has received weapons from Israel is the militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab, officials said. Abu Shabab heads an armed group that controls some territory in eastern Rafah and he has posted photos of himself holding an AK-47 rifle with UN vehicles behind him. Though Abu Shabab has denied receiving weapons from Israel, Hamas has accused him of being a "traitor." "We pledge before God to continue confronting the dens of that criminal and his gang, no matter the cost of the sacrifices we make," Hamas said on Thursday. Opposition politicians ripped Netanyahu for the plan to arm militias and the secrecy around it, lambasting it as a continuation of the Israeli leader's decision to allow millions of dollars in cash to travel from Qatar to Gaza beginning in late 2018. They accused him of strengthening Hamas in the past as an alternative to the rival Palestinian Fatah faction, and now arming gangs as an alternative to Hamas. "After Netanyahu finished handing over millions of dollars to Hamas, he moved on to supplying weapons to groups in Gaza affiliated with ISIS – all improvised, with no strategic planning, and all leading to more disasters," opposition leader Yair Lapid said on social media. Netanyahu has not laid out a plan for who will govern Gaza in the future and has hardly made clear any of his post-war intentions for the coastal enclave. Part of Israel's war goals include the complete disarmament of Hamas and the end of its ability to govern in the territory. The arming of militias in Gaza appears to be the closest that Netanyahu has come to empowering any form of alternate rule. Despite nearly 20 months of war, Israel has not been able to dislodge Hamas completely from large swaths of Gaza, and the militant group – classified as a terrorist organisation in Israel, the United States, and the European Union – has clung to power. Yair Golan, head of the left-wing Democrats party, said in a post on social media: "Instead of bringing about a deal, making arrangements with the moderate Sunni axis, and returning the hostages and security to Israeli citizens, he is creating a new ticking bomb in Gaza." Israel Hamas Conflict Israel Palestine Gaza World War CONTACT US Property News: The last inner Sydney suburbs where houses cost under $2m.
