Israel: Netanyahu and Gallant ‘shout at each other’ over Gaza ceasefire deal at cabinet meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant reportedly engaged in a shouting match at a meeting of the war cabinet on Thursday, arguing bitterly about plans for the Philadelphi corridor, also known as the Salah al-Din corridor, which separates the Gaza Strip from Egypt.

At the meeting, the war cabinet decided to permanently keep Israeli troops on the corridor, despite opposition from both Hamas and Egypt.

The presence of Israeli troops at the Philadelphi corridor and the Netzarim junction in central Gaza has been a major sticking point in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas.

Netanyahu has insisted on a permanent presence there, while Hamas has so far refused any agreement which does not include an Israel withdrawal from all of Gaza.

At the Thursday meeting, Gallant was the only minister to vote against keeping Israeli troops at the Philadelphi corridor.

He presented a case for moving forward with a ceasefire and hostage deal, saying Israel was at risk of a multi-front regional war if a deal was not reached, and added that the country was at a "strategic crossroads".

Tensions between Gallant and Netanyahu, who are both from the right-wing Likud Party, have increased as the Gaza war drags on.

Netanyahu has been accused within Israel of prolonging the Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 40,691 Palestinians and utterly devastated the Gaza Strip, for political gain.

At the meeting Netanyahu reportedly showed ministers maps of where the Israeli army would remain on the Gaza-Egypt border, saying this had been approved by US President Joe Biden’s administration, the US based news site Axios reported.

However Gallant reportedly interrupted the Israeli premier and accused him of forcing the maps on the Israeli army.

Netanyahu then got angry, banged his hand on the table, and called a vote on the issue, according to Axios, which cited aides to the prime minister.

Gallant responded by telling Netanyahu that he could call any vote he wanted – including executing Israeli hostages.

"We have to choose between Philadelphi and the hostages. We can't have both. If we vote, we might find out that either the hostages will die or we will have to backtrack to release them," Gallant said, according to Axios.

He added that Netanyahu’s decision would put Hamas in a stronger position and may force Israel to backtrack later.

Gallant’s aides currently say he has no intention of resigning, according to Axios, although there is speculation that Netanyahu may fire him if differences between the two leaders continue.