Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz resigns from Netanyahu’s government
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency government.
Last month, he said he would leave the government by 8 June if the leader of the three-man government did not formulate a new plan for post-war Gaza.
Mr Gantz, a popular former military chief, joined Mr Netanyahu’s government shortly after the Hamas attack on 7 October.
On Sunday, he said leaving the government was a “complex and painful” decision.
He accused Mr Netanyahu of making “total victory impossible” and that the government needs to put the return of the hostages “above political survival”.
The resignation comes a day after four Israeli hostages were rescued by the Israeli military from central Gaza.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, who were abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October have been returned to Israel.
The Hamas-run health military in Gaza claimed that three other hostages were killed during the operation.
In a post on Telegram earlier on Sunday, the militant group said one of the captives killed was a US citizen.
Gaza’s health ministry said the rescue operation involved a raid at the Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed 274 Palestinians.
The Israeli military estimated that fewer than 100 people died in the operation.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.