Government ministers who are members of the political-security cabinet criticized US Secretary of State Antony Blinken who sat last night with the limited war cabinet and dictated that humanitarian concessions be made to Gaza.
The government ministers were surprised to learn that Blinken remained in the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, and waited for the expanded cabinet to approve his demands for relief in Gaza.
Channel 12 News correspondent Yaron Avraham quoted cabinet ministers who said in the discussion that "this agreement opens the siege, who will make sure that the humanitarian aid does not reach Hamas? How are the hostages being considered in this agreement? You said, 'humanitarian for humanitarian.'"
According to reports, following this review, the expanded cabinet discussed the exact wording of the decision for hours, while each time drafts were passed between the cabinet room and Blinken's room, just a few meters away, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv.
Eventually, at approximately 3 am, they achieved an agreement on the text that was read in English in the cabinet room.
Some ministers asked to hear it read in Hebrew as well and claimed that certain words can be interpreted wrongly.
Therefore, an agreed-upon version was formulated by the ministers, which was transferred to Blinken's room, who approved the outline.
Kan News reported that ahead of the arrival of President Biden – Israel has been preparing humanitarian gestures for Gaza, even without compensation from Hamas.
In Israel, concessions to Biden are expected to be presented tomorrow during his visit to the Jewish State, following US pressure to ease the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
An Israeli source said: "These are minimal gestures, which are minimal compared to the massive US aid that Israel receives and will receive."
The sources involved say that this is intended, among other reasons, to prevent opposition within Congress to a US aid package to Israel.