Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz dismissed ministerial complaints about military constraints under the Lebanon ceasefire, saying forces respond to any immediate threat and the U.S. recognizes Israel's right to self-defense, according to Yedioth Ahronoth. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded collapsing the agreement after the grenade attack that wounded four soldiers. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly told ministers, "you wanted a ceasefire."
The internal Israeli political fallout from the Beit Yahoun grenade attack escalated sharply during the security cabinet's Friday morning session, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz explicitly rejected ministerial complaints about tactical restrictions under the Lebanon ceasefire. According to a Yedioth Ahronoth report, ministers argued forces on the ground were constrained from responding aggressively to Hezbollah violations. Netanyahu and Katz countered that troops already respond to any immediate threat, and that the U.S. recognizes Israel's right to self-defense — remarks that align with Katz's earlier assertion, reported by The Zioneer at 10:04 Jerusalem, that every soldier can respond immediately when needed.
The session was the culmination of a tense thread that began Thursday night, when ministers first confronted Netanyahu and Katz over what they called a 'shooting gallery' endangering troops. By the first published reports Friday at 10:04 Jerusalem, the Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had told ministers, 'You — the political level — wanted the ceasefire.' Over the course of at least five successive updates within the same hour, the account sharpened: ministers specifically pressed for a harder fire policy, and Netanyahu clarified there is no restriction on responding to immediate threats. The Beit Yahoun attack itself — which The Zioneer reported in multiple bulletins overnight and Friday morning — left four soldiers wounded (one officer moderately, three lightly) after a Hezbollah operative threw a grenade from inside a building; the assailant was killed within minutes, and the IDF followed with artillery and airstrikes.
This is not an isolated incident. As The Zioneer has reported over recent weeks, the ceasefire framework has been marred by repeated Hezbollah violations and IDF retaliatory strikes. On June 23, troops near the Ali al-Taher Ridge fired on four Hezbollah operatives in a breach; on June 20, five soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in two separate encounters in southern Lebanon; on June 19, Netanyahu ordered more than 80 strikes after a lethal violation; the IDF struck approximately 150 Hezbollah targets over a single weekend in early June, with officers wounded in ground encounters and drone incidents. The security cabinet's Friday clash reflects mounting political tension over whether the arrangement is containing the threat or leaving troops exposed.
What remains open: whether the ministers' push for a harder line will translate into a formal change in rules of engagement or a political move to collapse the ceasefire — as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded — beyond Netanyahu and Katz's current posture of standing firm on existing protocols.
6 developments
- DevelopingNetanyahu and Katz call to stop fire in Lebanon; Barkat warns against forgetting war gains
- StrongNetanyahu, Katz told troops to open fire on any threat in south Lebanon
- StrongBennett accuses Netanyahu and Katz of lying about IDF freedom of action in Lebanon
- DevelopingU.S. official says Netanyahu '100% agreed' to renew Lebanon ceasefire; PM's office yet to confirm
Source and signal
- Internal intake