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As the Israeli army continues to engage in heavy fighting with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, there is a threat of a national crisis at home. Israel’s Supreme Court dealt a new domestic political blow to already ailing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday with its decision to overturn a key element of the country’s controversial judicial reform. Whether this will affect further warfare is uncertain. In any case, the army is preparing for a long battle against Hamas, even if it is now withdrawing some of its reservists from the front.

Netanyahu’s party criticizes the court ruling

“The court’s ruling contradicts the people’s will for unity, especially in times of war,” criticized Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative Likud party. The court had previously annulled a government amendment to the Basic Law, depriving it of the ability to take action against “inappropriate” government decisions. Critics saw this as a threat to Israeli democracy. There were massive protests for months. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday that Hamas may have carried out its Oct. 7 attack because it believed Israeli society was in chaos.

The Israeli army responds to rocket fire

Meanwhile, the army said it fired back in response to renewed rocket fire from Syria and Lebanon. As she announced on Monday evening, five rockets fired from Syria flew into Israel and struck open areas. Fighter planes then attacked the launch sites. On Israel’s northern border, a warplane also hit the “terrorist infrastructure” of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. From there, rockets were fired toward a northern Israeli settlement on Monday, the report said.

Since the start of the Gaza war following the massacre by terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7, there have been repeated clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in the border area. The security situation in the entire region has been very tense since the start of the Gaza war. The risk that the conflict will spread is also increasing. The US has pushed Israel to move from an intensive period of heavy bombing in Gaza to more targeted attacks on Hamas.

Has a new phase in the Gaza war begun?

The New York Times newspaper on Tuesday evening quoted military analysts and US officials as saying that the Israeli army’s announced at least temporary withdrawal of some reservists from the front was likely a signal that such a phase change has now begun. Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the closed coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.

Commissioner for Human Rights: Signs of war crimes in the Gaza war

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, sees the war as signs of war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. On the Palestinian side, he mentions the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and 8, the indiscriminate firing of projectiles into Israel and the military action from civilian facilities. Regarding Israel, Türk told the German news agency in Geneva: “If you look at how Israel has responded to this, I have serious concerns about compliance with both human rights and international humanitarian law.”

During the heavy Israeli bombings, 70 percent of those affected were women and minors. “You can assume that the majority of those affected are citizens,” the Austrian told dpa. “Furthermore, the collective punishment of Palestinians is a war crime. Of course, courts must ultimately judge who committed which crimes.”

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Palestinians killed stands at 21,978. The figures cannot be independently verified. According to the latest information from the UN Palestine Relief Agency, 40 percent of people in the area sealed off by Israel are at risk of famine.

What will be important on Tuesday

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling against part of the controversial judicial reform, the question arises whether Netanyahu accepts the decision or not. (sda/dpa)