Israel said to halt Gaza aid after Smotrich threat to quit government over Hamas theft – The Times of Israel
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Aunt of murdered hostage urges Israeli government to secure comprehensive deal for all captives. Her plea adds to the ongoing pressure from hostage families for a diplomatic resolution.
Aunt of murdered hostage urges Israeli government to secure comprehensive deal for all captives
Hana Cohen, the aunt of Inbar Hayman who was murdered by Hamas with her body still held in Gaza, has publicly called on the Israeli government to advance a comprehensive deal for the return of all hostages, according to a report in Israel National News. In an interview, Cohen emphasized the need for an agreement that includes the return of both living captives and the bodies of those who have been killed. Her plea adds to the ongoing pressure from hostage families for a diplomatic resolution to bring all captives home from Gaza.
In First Remarks Since Cease-fire, Iran’s Supreme Leader Declares Victory, Says U.S. ‘Achieved No Gains From This War’
Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and other Palestinian factions on October 7, 2023, have been held in captivity for 629 days now. Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is in Hamas captivity, asked on Thursday why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to end the wars in Lebanon and Iran early. “No mother should bury her child so that another mother can see hers alive again,” she said. The Israeli public will return to nationwide protests, after these were suspended during the Iran-Israel conflict.
Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and other Palestinian factions on October 7, 2023, have been held in captivity for 629 days now.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is in Hamas captivity, asked on Thursday why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to end the wars in Lebanon and Iran early, while in Gaza Israeli forces have killed al of Hamas’ senior figures.
“Why not leverage the achievements in Iran and now launch an Israeli initiative to end the war in exchange for the return of all the hostages?” Zangauker asked.
“No soldier should be killed to bring back hostages. No mother should bury her child so that another mother can see hers alive again,” she said. “There is another way. A comprehensive agreement, without beatings and without differentiations.”
During a public statement given by the hostages’ families in Tel Aviv, Zangauker also mentioned that senior MKs in the coalition are already saying that the war should come to an end. On Wednesday, ultra-Orthodox party chairman Moshe Gafni said he “doesn’t understand” what Israel is fighting for in Gaza.
Zangauker said that the Israeli public will return to nationwide protests, after these were suspended during the Iran-Israel conflict. “We will not sit at home while the blood of our children and the blood of heroic fighters is being wasted on an endless war,” she said.
Bar Godard, the daughter of Meni Godard, who was killed on October 7 and whose body was taken to Gaza, said that now is the time to end the war in Gaza, even if it means making a deal with the organization that murdered her father.
Open gallery view Bar Godard speaking at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Thurdsay. Credit: Moti Milrod
“Make no mistake, I am not rushing to make an agreement with the Hamas terrorists,” she said, “These are the people who murdered my family, my neighbors, my friends. These are the same people who raped, who destroyed, who kidnapped my father and still hold him as a bargaining chip.”
“But the State of Israel must recover, the citizens of the state are exhausted and tired, they want to end this nightmare. And now there is an opportunity to do it, with Israel in the upper hand on all fronts.”
Israel halts aid deliveries into Gaza after evidence Hamas seized aid & Smotrich threatens to quit gov’t
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement late Wednesday night. Netanyahu and Katz instructed the IDF to present within 48 hours an action plan to prevent Hamas from taking control of the aid. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett posted a video of Hamas fighters commandeering aid trucks entering the northern Gaza Strip. The flow of aid to the Gaza Strip has been halted until the IDF presents the requested plan. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gave Netanyahu an ultimatum: Immediately stop aid to Hamas – otherwise he would not remain in the government. A little over a month ago, the Prime Minister Netanyahu approved the resumption of aid trucks into northern Gaza alongside the GHF distribution in the southern Strip. This was reportedly opposed by most of the cabinet. The new aid distribution mechanism, which is being deployed in Rafah and in one location in the Netzarim area, has not been implemented in northern Gaza, according to the UN Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (OGAT)
The Israeli government has decided to halt the flow of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza after videos surfaced in the last few days of Hamas fighters commandeering aid trucks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement late Wednesday night, saying,
“Following information received today that Hamas is once again taking control of the humanitarian aid entering the northern Gaza Strip and stealing it from civilians, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense instructed the IDF to present within 48 hours an action plan to prevent Hamas from taking control of the aid,” the statement said.
The joint statement by Netanyahu and Katz was released following a post to 𝕏 by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, showing a video of Hamas fighters commandeering aid trucks entering the northern Gaza Strip.
הסרטון הזה צולם היום. רואים בו חמושים של החמאס שהשתלטו שוב על משאיות מזון שממשלת ישראל הכניסה לרצועה.
לוחמים בשטח הסבירו לי שאלו ההוראות כיום, להכניס משאיות בלי בקרה.
ככה ממשיכים להזין את חמאס בכסף ובכוח.
שרי הממשלה התחייבו ש״אף גרגר לא ייכנס״ וכרגיל המציאות הפוכה.
מביש. pic.twitter.com/Sj5Wozwgb8 — Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) June 25, 2025
“This video was filmed today,” Bennett wrote. “It shows Hamas gunmen who have once again taken control of food trucks that the Israeli government allowed into the Strip.”
He claimed that the government had ordered the trucks to enter “without inspection.”
“This is how they continue to fuel Hamas with money and power,” Bennett continued. “Government ministers promised that ‘not a single grain will enter,’ and as usual, reality is the opposite. Shameful.”
According to a report in Channel 12 news, the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip has been halted until the IDF presents the requested plan. The news outlet also said that shortly before the statement by Netanyahu and Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gave Netanyahu an ultimatum: Immediately stop aid to Hamas – otherwise he would not remain in the government.
A little over a month ago, the Prime Minister Netanyahu approved the resumption of aid trucks into northern Gaza alongside the GHF distribution in the southern Strip. This was reportedly opposed by most of the cabinet.
At the time, the Prime Minister’s Office said that “Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a hunger crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip.” It also claimed that “Israel will work to deny Hamas’s ability to take control of the distribution of humanitarian aid in order to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas terrorists.”
Army Radio’s military correspondent Doron Kadosh reported on Thursday morning that the new aid distribution mechanism, which is being deployed in Rafah and in one location in the Netzarim Corridor, where the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distributes aid packages directly to Palestinians who arrive at secure aid distribution sites, has not been implemented in the northern Gaza Strip.
Kadosh said that aid distribution in the northern Strip is being handled as it was in the past, with aid trucks entering the Strip under the oversight of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), where they are to be driven to UN aid warehouses.
“Hamas easily takes control of these trucks as it has done since the beginning of the war,” Kadosh noted.
Kadosh also confirmed what has been reported by several Hebrew news sites, that the aid distribution sites run by GHF are not being implemented according to the plan previously presented to the government.
Specifically, Kadosh reported that the sites “do not have an organized registration as promised,” and they also do not have the promised security check mechanism to prevent Hamas members from arriving in civilian clothes and taking boxes of aid for the terror group.
Netanyahu Directs Military to Stop Hamas Interception of Gaza Aid
Israel has imposed a nearly three-month blockade on all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Since lifting the blockade at the end of May, Israel has also carried out numerous deadly massacres against Palestinian aid seekers gathered at delivery points. Not only has Israel carried out massacres of aid seekers, but it has also slaughtered innocent Palestinian civilians and issued threats. Israel’s Finance Minister from the right-wing, Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to leave the government if aid is not allowed to reach Palestinian residents. The cessation of aid delivery is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving aid in the Gaza Strip.
“Following information received today that Hamas is again taking control of humanitarian aid entering northern Gaza and stealing it from civilians, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister have instructed the [Israeli military] to present within 48 hours an action plan to prevent Hamas from seizing the aid,” the instruction issued on Wednesday night, June 25, 2025, as reported by Al-Jazeera.
Channel 12 Israel reported that an Israeli official stated that the government has completely ceased sending aid to Gaza. The cessation of aid delivery is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving aid in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has indeed imposed this aid blockade since last March. Israel has enforced a nearly three-month blockade on all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. During these three months, Israel has succeeded in putting millions of Palestinians on the brink of hunger and a lack of healthcare facilities.
Furthermore, since lifting the blockade at the end of May, Israel has also carried out numerous deadly massacres against Palestinian aid seekers gathered at delivery points. Not only has Israel carried out massacres of aid seekers, but it has also slaughtered innocent Palestinian civilians and issued threats.
The children’s rights group, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), reported that Israel had killed a 13-year-old boy on Monday, June 23, 2025, in the West Bank. The boy, named Ammar Motaz Mostafa Hamayel, was shot in the back while walking with his friends.
The shooting was carried out by Israeli forces hiding among pine trees, approximately 500 to 1,000 meters away from Ammar’s location. As a result, Ammar and three of his friends were killed. Moreover, Ammar’s body was not immediately handed over to the ambulance crew.
“While Israeli forces detained Ammar after shooting him, they physically assaulted multiple family members and neighbours who attempted to reach him and provide aid,” said DCI-P.
All forms of humanitarian aid blockades provided by external parties to Palestinians and Palestinian residents in the Gaza Strip have had a severely adverse impact.
The Times of Israel reported that Finance Minister from the right-wing, Bezalel Smotrich, has threatened to leave the government if aid is not allowed to reach Palestinian residents.
Editor’s Note: This article’s title was changed on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 12:22 p.m. local time. The original title was “Netanyahu Orders Military to Block Aid Deliveries to Gaza,” which does not reflect the contents of the writing. Additional information can be found in paragraph two.
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At Least 52 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza, Health Officials Say
Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in a coordinated action imposed sanctions on Tuesday on cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The five countries accused them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel said the action by the five countries was “outrageous” and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week.
Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in a coordinated action imposed sanctions on Tuesday on cabinet ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the U.S. condemned the move, and Israel said the action by the five countries was “outrageous” and the Israeli government would hold a special meeting early next week to decide how to respond.
Albanese said the responses from Israel and the U.S. are “predictable”.
“The Israeli Government does need to uphold its obligations under international law and some of the expansionist rhetoric that we’ve seen as well is clearly in contradiction of that from these hard-line right wing members of the Netanyahu government,” Albanese said on Wednesday in an interview with ABC Radio Sydney.
Comments by the two men “have aided what is a serious impediment to a two-state solution”, he added.