Israel forms 'emergency government' to oversee fight against Hamas

Amid the ongoing war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading Opposition figure on Wednesday agreed to establish an "emergency government" in an attempt to combat the fight against Hamas militants. In a statement, Gantz's National Unity party stated that the emergency warr-time Cabinet will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz - a senior opposition figure and former defence minister - and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.  

According to the statement, the Cabinet will focus only on issues of the war. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle other issues.

The unusual arrangement manages to provide some degree of unity after years



of bitterly divisive politics, as the military appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza.  The government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, after its militants stormed through the border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.

Israel’s chief opposition leader, Yair Lapid, was invited to join to new Cabinet but did not immediately respond to the offer, reported the Associated Press. The war has already claimed around 2,500 lives on both sides, and a ground offensive in Gaza is likely to dramatically hike casualties. Already, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris.