Wednesday briefing: Israel turns on Netanyahu – but is it enough to end his premiership?

In today’s newsletter: Despite protests and the fact that almost three-quarters of Israelis want the PM to quit, huge obstacles stand in the way of his exit

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Good morning. Almost three-quarters of the Israeli public want Benjamin Netanyahu to resign as prime minister. More than two-thirds say he is handling the war in Gaza badly. And more than half think his government is not doing enough to bring the Israeli hostages held by Hamas home.

Now the ultranationalists he relies on to prop up his fragile coalition are warning that they will bring the government down if he does not go ahead with a major assault on Rafah – and the opposition leaders who joined his war cabinet, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, are coming under increasing pressure to step down. With tens of thousands of people joining renewed protests calling for Netanyahu’s removal, his political prospects would appear to be dire.

Gender identity | Thousands of vulnerable children questioning their gender identity have been let down by the NHS providing unproven treatments and by the “toxicity” of the trans debate, a landmark report has found. Read the key findings, an interview with author Dr Hilary Cass, and views from young trans people and their families.

Israel-Gaza latest | David Cameron has confirmed the UK government will not suspend arms exports to Israel after the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike on Gaza last week. The foreign secretary said that he had reviewed the most recent legal advice about the situation on the ground, but this left the UK’s position on export licences “unchanged”.

Politics | William Wragg has resigned the Conservative party whip days after admitting to giving out colleagues’ personal phone numbers to someone he had met on a dating app. Wragg, who represents Hazel Grove, will now sit as an independent MP.

Museums | A staff member who put his own art on display at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne has been fired. The 51-year-old man had smuggled his work “in the hope of achieving his artistic breakthrough”.

Peter Higgs | Nobel prize-winning physicist, Peter Higgs, who proposed a new particle known as the Higgs boson, has died. Higgs was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 2013 for his work in 1964 showing how the boson helped bind the universe together by giving particles their mass.

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Netanyahu making a ‘mistake’ on Gaza, says Biden, as he urges Israel to push for ceasefire

US president gives some of his strongest criticism of Israeli PM yet, saying he needs to ‘empower’ Israel’s negotiators to call for a truce

US president Joe Biden has said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach on Gaza was a “mistake” and urged Israel to call for a ceasefire, in an interview that aired on Tuesday.

Biden’s comments were some of his strongest criticism yet of Netanyahu amid growing tensions over the civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Hamas and dire conditions inside Gaza.

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Isolated at home and abroad, but Netanyahu isn’t about to go quietly

Israel PM’s woes continue to mount, but the country’s policy on Gaza is unlikely to change

For Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the last week has perhaps been the worst since the Hamas attack on 7 October, six months ago, that triggered the current war in Gaza.

Protests against the longtime Israeli leader by hostage families and the opposition returned with a vengeance across the country as he spent two nights in hospital for hernia surgery. Then his major political rival, Benny Gantz, undermined the unity of the wartime government by calling for early elections; Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies are already angry with him over a row regarding military conscription.

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David Cameron warns of Gaza famine as UK sends Royal Navy ship to boost aid effort

Move to join US-led maritime corridor follows international fury at last week’s killing of seven aid workers

The Royal Navy was ordered into action on Saturday to help supply desperately needed aid to Gaza, as the foreign secretary, David Cameron, warned that the Palestinian people trapped there were on the brink of famine.

With the UK and US governments under intense pressure to halt arms sales to Israel, Downing Street said on Saturday that ministers would instead boost support for a planned new maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, to channel “life-saving aid” by sea to a population in urgent need of basic food supplies.

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The new world disorder: how the Gaza war disrupted international relations

While the US flounders in a conflict it did not foresee, emerging powers see a chance for new voices to join the top table

Not long ago a picture circulated from inside Gaza showing smoke billowing from the explosion of a US-supplied bomb, and discernible in the background was the outline of eight black parachutes dropping US aid in precisely the same neighbourhood. It was suggested that the picture would make an ideal cover for any book about the confused world disorder that the six-month war in Gaza have spawned – a disorder that as yet has no dominant player, value system or functioning institutions.

The great powers compete, coexist or confront one another across the region but none, least of all at the UN, is able to impose its version of order any longer. “Forget talk of unipolarity or multipolarity,” the journalist Gregg Carlstrom recently wrote in Foreign Affairs. “The Middle East is nonpolar. No one is in charge.”

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Legal assessment of Israel’s actions in Gaza risks being subsumed in Tory row

Conservative supporters of Israel want David Cameron to dial back criticism and accept defeat of Hamas is in UK’s interest

A legal assessment by the UK Foreign Office of whether Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza risks being subsumed in a Conservative row over the party’s loyalty to the country, and by rival judgments on the damage to British interests in the wider Middle East if the UK is not seen to distance itself from Israel’s methods.

Judging by the last Tory leadership contest, in which Liz Truss courted votes by promising to transfer the UK embassy to Jerusalem, there is a good chance Israel will feature in any leadership debate after a predicted general election defeat this year.

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Israel divided: Netanyahu’s coalition crisis – podcast

A cabinet split over military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews and large street protests demanding the release of hostages are threatening the prime minister’s grip on power. Bethan McKernan reports from Jerusalem

As the war in Gaza approaches its seventh month, tens of thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities in Israel have demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza and called for new elections.

The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, Bethan McKernan, tells Michael Safi it is a moment of political danger for the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who also faces pressure from within his ruling coalition over the issue of exemption from military service granted to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Israel’s allies, including the US, are piling pressure on Netanyahu to urgently allow aid into Gaza, which faces a famine, and to spell out how he will address the aftermath of the conflict.

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Bernie Sanders to Benjamin Netanyahu: ‘Stop murdering innocent people’

Vermont senator makes remarks after Israeli strike kills seven aid workers, amid war that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians

The Vermont senator and former US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has a message for the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu: “Stop murdering innocent people.”

Sanders delivered his blunt message in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, a day after seven aid workers were killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza.

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Charities halt Gaza aid after drone attack that killed seven workers

Humanitarian groups say they cannot operate safely after Israeli targeting of food charity convoy prompts international outcry

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza seems likely to worsen after charities announced they are suspending operations in the territory in the aftermath of an Israeli drone attack which repeatedly targeted a clearly identified convoy of international aid workers, killing seven.

The strikes on a team from World Central Kitchen (WCK) led the charity – along with other aid organisations such as Anera, which helps refugees around the Middle East, and the US-based Project Hope, which focuses on healthcare – to announce that it would pause operations in Gaza to protect its staff.

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Al Jazeera faces ‘security threat’ ban as Israel passes new law

Benjamin Netanyahu says after approval of bill he will ‘act immediately … to stop channel’s activities’

Israeli legislators have approved a bill paving the way for a ban on Al Jazeera and other international news outlets perceived as posing a threat to security.

After the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised to take prompt measures to force the end of Al Jazeera’s operations within the country, parliament granted senior ministers authority to shut down foreign news networks.

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Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital after two-week raid

Palestinian organisations allege torture and ‘executions’ as video footage shows heavily damaged and charred buildings

Israeli forces announced their withdrawal from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Monday after a two-week raid, amid claims from Hamas that the Israel Defense Forces killed 400 people in the compound and allegations from the Palestinian Red Crescent of torture and “executions”.

According to the IDF, the facility – Gaza City’s main hospital before the war – was used to harbour Hamas fighters. The army described the operation as one of the most successful of the nearly six-month conflict and cited the killing of of 200 militants including senior operatives. The claim they were all militants could not be confirmed.

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Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal

Demonstrators join families of hostages in cities across country and vow to persist until he is ousted as PM

Tens of thousands of people across Israel joined the families of hostages this weekend to protest against the government and call for the removal of Benjamin Netanyahu, as the Israeli prime minister grappled with one of the most serious threats yet to his coalition.

The protesters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, Caesarea and other cities on Saturday – and at a further demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Sunday – demanded the release of those still held captive in Gaza after close to six months, and labelled Netanyahu an “obstacle to the deal”, vowing to persist until he leaves power.

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Middle East crisis: second shipment of Gaza aid sets sail from Cyprus – as it happened

Cargo ship, salvage vessel and a platform carry 400 tonnes of food for region

Four UN observers were injured on Saturday when a shell exploded near them as they were carrying out a foot patrol in southern Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping mission said, adding it was still investigating the origin of the blast.

According to Reuters, the Unifil statement said the targeting of peacekeepers is “unacceptable.” Two security sources had told Reuters the observers were wounded in an Israeli strike but the Israeli military denied striking in the area.

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Netanyahu faces huge challenge after court ruling on military exemption

Strain on coalition grows after Israeli supreme court orders end to subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men who avoid conscription

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing one of the most serious threats yet to his coalition government after the country’s supreme court ordered an end to government subsidies from Monday for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the army.

The ruling follows a series of delays by the government in presenting a proposal to the court aimed at enhancing the military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men, who have historically been exempt from conscription.

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‘Famine is setting in’: UN court orders Israel to unblock Gaza food aid

Judges issue unanimous decision and say Palestinians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance

The international court of justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israel’s claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.

A panel of judges at the UN’s top court, which is already considering a complaint from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, issued the ruling after an emergency measure in January obliging Israel to admit emergency aid.

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Heavy fighting reported around Gaza’s al-Shifa and Nasser hospitals

Israeli forces also blockading al-Amal hospital amid mounting concern for the safety of patients, civilians and medical staff

Heavy fighting took place around two key hospitals in Gaza on Thursday, while a third was reportedly under Israeli siege, amid mounting international concern for the safety of patients, civilians and remaining medical staff in the facilities.

The most intense fighting once again appeared to be focused on the al-Shifa complex, Gaza City’s main hospital before the war, where the Israeli army said it continued to operate around the site after storming it more than a week ago.

Guardian Newsroom: The unfolding crisis in the Middle East

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‘Madness’: Netanyahu’s handling of US relations under scrutiny after UN vote

Tone in parts of Israeli media borders on contempt, as prime minister’s growing friction with Biden linked to US abstention

The Israeli prime minister’s handling of relations with the Biden administration, which led the US on Monday to decline to veto a ceasefire resolution at the UN security council, has been greeted by sharp criticism by Israeli commentators.

After the US abstention, prominent columnists across the Israeli media condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing friction with the US president, Joe Biden.

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Plan to end ultra-Orthodox students’ military exemption sparks row in Israel

For years Haredi men have been allowed to continue Torah study, but proposal could force some to enlist

A proposed bill to extend compulsory military service to ultra-Orthodox students, historically exempt from conscription, has ignited a fierce debate in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warning that failure to pass the law could jeopardise the stability of the government.

Israel has mandatory army service but for decades made an exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredi, who are allowed to continue full-time Torah study. The proposal, as Israel approaches six months since the 7 October Hamas attacks that began the war in Gaza, seeks to extend the duration of military service for conscripts and raise the age for reservists, while also urging an end to the customary exemptions granted to yeshiva students.

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Kamala Harris says Israel assault on Rafah ‘would be a huge mistake’

Top Democrats urge Netanyahu to abandon planned assault days after Israeli leader rejected similar request by Antony Blinken

Senior US Democrats on Sunday increased pressure on Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon a planned offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Two days after a similar call by US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was rejected by the Israeli leader, vice-president Kamala Harris said that the Joe Biden White House was “ruling out nothing” in terms of consequences if Netanyahu moves ahead with the assault.

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Netanyahu addresses Senate Republicans days after Schumer calls for his ouster

Israeli PM speaks via video link and answers questions after his request to talk to Democrats was turned down

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, virtually addressed Republican senators in Washington on Wednesday, days after the chamber’s majority leader, the Democrat Chuck Schumer, called him an impediment to peace in an unsparing floor speech.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, told reporters, shortly after leaving the Senate Republicans’ policy lunch, that Netanyahu joined the gathering via video link, delivered a presentation, and answered questions.

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