Palestinian children stand on a street covered in the rubble of a building targeted in an Israeli strike in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip on July 6, 2025. (Credit: Bashar Taleb/AFP)
JERUSALEM — Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that he said would benefit Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza cease-fire.
"The cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas," Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the group and serve as "logistical support for the enemy during wartime."
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies and for which no proof has been supplied. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
Pressure
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent cease-fire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and cease-fire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the cease-fire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a cease-fire is agreed.
The war erupted with the Hamas-led operation against southern Israel in October 2023, an attack for which the Israeli army was not prepared and to which it did not immediately respond. The events devolved into chaos and resulted in the death of around 1,200 people. In its subsequent onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza Israel has killed over 57,000 people, according to the enclave's health ministry.
Most of Gaza’s population has been displaced by the war, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded, and much of the territory lies in ruins.
Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet
decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a "grave mistake" that
he said would benefit Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
failing to ensure that Israel's military is following government
directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said
he was considering his "next steps" but stopped short of
explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich's comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to
hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a
U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza cease-fire.
"The cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake
yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that
also benefits...
