Netanyahu threatens army chief with dismissal if he rejects full Gaza invasion plan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened the current Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, with dismissal if he refuses a proposed plan for a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip, according to sources close to Netanyahu on Monday evening.

The warning came in a public message directed at Zamir, which analysts have described as an escalation in the internal dispute over how the war in Gaza is being handled.

Just minutes before the message was released, the Israeli army announced a set of measures to reduce pressure on its regular troops. These include ending the state of emergency that has been in place since 7 October 2023, when Palestinian resistance factions launched the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. The emergency status had extended mandatory reserve service by four additional months.

The Israeli army command said its battalions were “exhausted after more than a year of continuous service,” and that Zamir had decided to withdraw a full platoon from each regular battalion and return them to reserve duty.

According to military sources, this move will reduce the number of combat troops currently involved in ground operations, including what are referred to as “Gideon vehicles” in Gaza. The army leadership said these changes were necessary to give soldiers a “rest period” following intense fighting across multiple fronts over the past two years.

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