Settlers severely criticise Israeli government

Israeli settlers from some of the settlements around the Gaza Strip harshly criticised the Israeli government during a meeting with the country’s internal security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovich, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

The newspaper reported that Aharonovich met on Sunday with settlers from the Kfar Aza settlement, who proceeded to harshly criticise him for the continued fire of Palestinian rockets. The criticism comes after the Israeli government had promised settlers that it was “safe to return home”.

Orit Brown from Kfar Aza settlement said: “Towards the ceasefire there was a call for Gaza-area residents to return to their homes. I have no words to describe the anguish we felt Friday morning, the fear, the anxieties, the loss of faith, the crisis and the frustration.”

Brown then asked: “Why tell us to come back home? Why hurry? You knew it would be a process and that things weren’t yet over. Why did you tell us to come back?”

Responding to the settlers’ criticism, Aharonovich placed the blame on Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, saying that: “There were things that should not have been said.”

The minister also said: “There is no crisis between the residents and the military or government. At the end of the day I believe we will draw conclusions from this war.”