After the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expired at the beginning of March, the situation in the Gaza Strip has been very fragile.
Tuesday night, the pause in the fighting was broken. So far, hundreds of Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli shelling.
It was not unexpected. We saw already at the end of phase one that problems arose when one was to begin negotiating phase two, says Middle East expert Isabell Schierenbeck, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg.
The Government May Be Dissolved
She points out that Benjamin Netanyahu has had obvious problems with his fragile coalition government for a long time.
As a result of the negotiated ceasefire, the far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir chose to resign as security minister in January. If the far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich were to jump ship, which Ben-Gvir has urged him to do, the situation for Netanyahu would become acute.
He is extremely pressured and threatened by the government being dissolved if Smotrich jumps ship, which he threatens to do, says Isabell Schierenbeck.
She also notes that Netanyahu repeatedly tries to get rid of his critics. As recently as Sunday, he announced that he wants to fire the head of the country's internal security service Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
The two have disagreed on who bears the greatest responsibility for Hamas being able to carry out the bloody terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Shin Bet recently published a report where the political leadership was accused of not listening to the security service's warnings.
Dodging the Question of Responsibility
According to Isabell Schierenbeck, the demand for Ronen Bar's resignation is in line with how Netanyahu has handled the question of responsibility for Hamas' attack.
When he acts like this and gets rid of critics, the spotlight is turned back on him. What is his role in this? Why doesn't he take responsibility and why doesn't he want to appoint an investigation into October 7?
This question of responsibility keeps coming to the surface again, whether he likes it or not, she says, and adds that it is difficult to see how Israel's resumed warfare could come to a quick end, notes Isabell Schierenbeck.
