Bennett Obstructs Gantz-Abbas Meeting

Protests in Tel Aviv against the government's decision to impose restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic (AFP)
Protests in Tel Aviv against the government's decision to impose restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic (AFP)
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Bennett Obstructs Gantz-Abbas Meeting

Protests in Tel Aviv against the government's decision to impose restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic (AFP)
Protests in Tel Aviv against the government's decision to impose restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is preventing Defense Minister Benny Gantz from meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli television Channel 12 reported.

The channel said that Gantz has spoken to Abbas twice since the current government's formation and agreed with him to meet soon. But Bennett disagreed, leaving Gantz disappointed.

It quoted him as saying: "The meeting with Abbas, in these circumstances, is of great importance in promoting and strengthening security cooperation."

Sources close to Bennett revealed that officials in the Yamina party expressed their fears that the resumption of direct dialogue with the Palestinian Authority, and other demands of the Biden administration regarding the Palestinians, would lead to the collapse of the government coalition.

They told Israel Hayom newspaper that party officials expect the US administration to present several demands after approving the general budget next November.

The sources added that Washington accepted the Israeli government's request to wait until the budget is approved.

They indicated that passing the draft budget in the Knesset will be the most critical test of the stability of the cabinet. If passed, the government will complete its mandate, and then it will be easy to take unpopular decisions, such as resuming relations with the PA.

The eight parties of the government coalition agreed that it should focus on economic and social issues, including the coronavirus pandemic, rather than being preoccupied with major political issues.

Back then, Bennet said he will not meet the demands of the right-wing parties in the government, including the Yamina party, to annex the Jordan Valley and impose Israeli sovereignty over the settlements.

In addition, the goals of the left parties, such as Labor and Meretz, and that of the Islamic movement to freeze settlement construction and relaunch negotiations based on a two-state solution will not be achieved, according to Bennet.

According to government sources, the US administration does not want to impose de facto measures that sabotage the two-state solution.

They explained that decisions to expand settlements in the West Bank by establishing new neighborhoods or converting outposts into permanent settlements are de facto measures.

Last Friday, US media published statements by a senior official in the State Department in Washington, commenting on the government's intention to approve 2,300 residential homes in settlements and about 900 Palestinian homes throughout the West Bank.

The US official considered these projects a violation of the two-state solution and called on the Israeli and Palestinian sides to refrain from unilateral decisions and measures entirely.



One in 10 Children Screened in UNRWA Clinics are Malnourished

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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One in 10 Children Screened in UNRWA Clinics are Malnourished

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday.

"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.

Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.

"One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries," Reuters quoted Touma as saying.

"Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out," Touma said.

On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave.

Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing from UN-led aid operations - which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, using private US security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the UN has refused to work with.

On Monday, UNICEF said that last month more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition. It said it was an increase for the fourth month in a row.