Education Minister Naftali Bennett is pushing for the Israel Defense Forces to take a proactive approach to thwarting tunnels apparently being dug by Hamas under the Gaza frontier, Channel 2 News reports.
The move is opposed by both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, according to the report.
Bennett, head of the hard-line Jewish Home party, says he won’t respond to the report.
Netanyahu’s office also says it won’t speak about what is discussed in cabinet meetings and calls on ministers to refrain from trying to use the media to mischaracterize cabinet discussions.
In July 2014, Bennett was a strong proponent of an Israeli ground campaign in Gaza to destroy the network of Hamas tunnels. Netanyahu and Ya’alon eventually ordered the ground campaign and the military said it destroyed a network of dozens of tunnels.
Southern residents and some officials have raised worries recently that Hamas may have begun rebuilding its tunnels under the border to be used in eventual attacks on Israeli soil.
IDF investigations to uncover tunnels have yet to turn up any passages.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 8, 2016
