Far-right leader returns to Netanyahu’s cabinet after strikes pummel Gaza
Itamar Ben-Gvir’s return to the coalition government strengthens it ahead of a crucial budget vote.
The leader of a far-right party has returned to Israel’s government as national security minister after a wave of strikes that killed more than 400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Itamar Ben-Gvir had left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition in January in protest over the ceasefire with Hamas, which was shattered by Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday.
Mr Netanyahu said the attack was “only the beginning” and that Israel would press ahead until it achieves all of its war aims – destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages held by the militant group since its attack on Israel on October 7 2023 ignited the fighting.
Gaza’s health ministry said Tuesday’s strikes killed at least 409 people, including 173 children and 88 women.
Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry’s records department, described it as the deadliest day in Gaza since the start of the war.
The return of Mr Ben-Gvir, leader of the ultranationalist Jewish Power party, strengthens Mr Netanyahu’s coalition ahead of a crucial budget vote this month and improves its chances of surviving until the next scheduled elections in October 2026.
Mr Ben-Gvir supports the full resumption of the war with the aim of annihilating Hamas, depopulating Gaza through what he refers to as the voluntary migration of Palestinians, and rebuilding Jewish settlements there.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said an international worker was killed and five others were hurt in an explosion in the Gaza Strip.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN Office for Project Services, said the cause of Wednesday’s blast remains unclear but that an explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired”.
