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Netanyahu torpedoes IDF’s daily ‘tactical pause’ in Rafah

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir slams ‘evil fool’ behind IDF’s plan to ceasefire unilaterally for 11 hours a day daily in Rafah.

By World Israel News Staff

The IDF walked back plans for a daily one-sided ceasefire in the southern Gaza city of Rafah Sunday, following heavy criticism from senior government officials and pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday morning, the IDF issued a statement in English announcing plans for a daily, unilateral ceasefire or “tactical pause” in the city of Rafah from 8:00 a.m. to 7 p.m.

As part of the “tactical pause,” the IDF would halt operations along a major Rafah road, in order to facilitate the entry of additional aid from the Kerem Shalom crossing into the coastal enclave.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) castigated the moved, calling it the work of an “evil fool.”

“It’s time to…stop the crazy and delusional approach [to warfare] that only brings us more dead and fallen” soldiers, Ben-Gvir tweeted, slamming the “evil fool who decided on a tactical pause, who should not stay in his position.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) also condemned the tactical pauses, tweeting: “The management of humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip…has been lackluster for the past few months.”

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“The IDF Spokesperson’s detached statement did not reflect any change happening on the ground.

“The problem is that the IDF’s general staff is completely detached from the feeling among the troops on the ground…it’s that it would publish such a statement on the day in which we bury 11 of our best fighters. It’s that it focuses all day on creating international legitimacy instead of leaving that to the political echelon instead of centering its attention on winning the war.”

In the wake of the backlash against the IDF’s announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement distancing himself from the decision, and stating that no policy change had in fact been implemented.

Shortly afterwards, the IDF appeared to reverse course on its statement Sunday morning, writing in Hebrew that “there is no pause in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip or Rafah. Additionally, no changes have been made to the entry of humanitarian goods to the Strip.”