Netanyahu Dissolves War Cabinet

More than 37,340 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory.

There have been further signs of strain within the Israeli government in the past day, with Mr. Netanyahu and his far-right ministers criticizing the IDF’s decision to introduce a "tactical pause in military activity" during the day near the southern Gaza town of Rafah to allow more humanitarian aid deliveries.

The pause is intended to allow trucks to collect aid from the Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing, southeast of Rafah, and then travel safely to reach the main north-south road inside Gaza. Supplies have been held at the crossing point since Israel began its operation in Rafah last month.

However, Mr. Ben-Gvir condemned the policy as foolish, while Israeli media quoted Mr. Netanyahu as saying: "We have a country with an army, not an army with a country."

The IDF said they were carrying out political leaders’ orders to ensure humanitarian aid entered Gaza.

They also stated that the pause did not mean fighting in southern Gaza would stop, creating confusion over what was actually happening on the ground.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the largest humanitarian organization in Gaza, reported that fighting continued in Rafah and elsewhere in the south on Monday and that "operationally, nothing has changed."

Meanwhile, the IDF said its forces "continued targeted intelligence-based operations in the Rafah area." They added that they had found weapons, struck booby-trapped structures, and eliminated "several terrorists" in the Tal al-Sultan area.

UNRWA estimates that 65,000 people are still sheltering in Rafah - less than 5% of the 1.4 million people who sought refuge there before the IDF began what they described as limited operations to root out Hamas fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by the Palestinian armed group.

With little sign of progress towards a full ceasefire in Gaza, there have been fresh warnings from the Israeli military that a low-level conflict with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah now threatens to escalate into a broader war.

Following a recent increase in exchanges of fire, a key US diplomat has returned to the region to try to de-escalate tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border. ***