Netanyahu reportedly prepping cabinet for possible offensive in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday is said to have told his cabinet that a military operation in Gaza would be imminent should violent tensions worsen, according to a local media report.

“If the reality of civil distress in Gaza is diminished, that is desirable, but that is not certain to happen, and so we are preparing militarily — that is not an empty statement,” said the premier according to a TV news report on Israel’s Hadashot.

Senior defense officials apparently told Hadashot that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was irked by the transfer of funds from Qatar to the coastal enclave, in spite of his attempts to cut financial aid to the Hamas-ruled Strip.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Nikolay Mladenov had facilitated the transfer.

On Friday, Hadashot reported that the Palestinian Authority (PA) planned on cutting some $96 million which Gaza receives every month, risking a worsening of the already dire situation in Gaza where residents currently have a couple of hours of electricity available per day.

Abbas has sought to pressure Hamas in recent months by refusing to pay for his rivals' government salaries and for Israeli-supplied electricity in the Strip, leading to a severe power crisis and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the enclave.

Hamas and Fatah have been at loggerheads for over a decade, following the Islamist group’s victory in 2006 parliamentary elections. Abbas' Fatah and much of the international community refused to accept the result, leading to increased strife and a near-civil war that saw Hamas seize control of the coastal enclave.