Tel Aviv, Israel——

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked a senior Cabinet minister who arrived in Washington on Sunday for talks with U.S. officials, according to an Israeli official, in a sign of the country’s leadership after nearly five months of war with Hamas. Internal rifts are widening.

Centrist political rival Benny Gantz joins Netanyahu’s war cabinet after Hamas attack on October 7 The suffering and friction over postwar planning were intensifying. What an enclave should look like.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Gantz’s trip was planned without authorization from the Israeli leader. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu had a “difficult conversation” with Gantz and told him the country had “only one prime minister.”

Gantz is scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Monday and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, according to Gantz’s National Unity Party. Another Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Gantz’s visit was aimed at strengthening ties with the United States, boosting support for Israel’s war and pushing for the release of Israeli hostages.

In Egypt, talks are underway for a ceasefire ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week.

A third Israeli government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel did not send a delegation because it was awaiting Hamas responses to two questions. Israeli media reported that the government was waiting to learn which hostages were still alive and how many Palestinian prisoners Hamas would need in exchange for each hostage.

All three Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the dispute with the media.

The United States began airdropping aid to Gaza on Saturday after dozens of Palestinians were killed last week as they rushed to grab food from an Israeli-organized convoy. The airdrops bypass an aid delivery system hobbled by Israeli restrictions, logistical problems and fighting in Gaza. Aid officials say airdrops are far less effective than truck deliveries.

U.S. priorities in the region are increasingly hampered by Netanyahu’s cabinet, which is dominated by ultra-nationalists. Gantz’s moderate wing has sometimes acted as a counterweight.

Most opinion polls show Netanyahu’s support has declined since the war began. Many Israelis hold him responsible for failing to prevent Hamas’s Oct. 7 cross-border terror attack, which Israel said killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 people hostage. Gaza held hostages, including women, children and the elderly authorities.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants. About 80% of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and United Nations agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the verge of famine.

Israeli critics of Netanyahu say his decisions are influenced by political considerations, a charge he denies. Criticism has focused particularly on plans for post-war Gaza. Netanyahu wants Israel to maintain open security control over Gaza and for Palestinians to run civil affairs.

The United States wants to see progress toward Palestinian statehood and envisions Gaza being governed by a restructured Palestinian leadership with an eye toward eventual statehood.

This vision is opposed by Netanyahu and hardliners in his government. Another senior cabinet official in Gantz’s party raised questions about the handling of the war and the strategy for releasing the hostages.

Netanyahu’s government, the most conservative and religious in Israel’s history, is also uneasy about a court-imposed deadline for a new bill to expand the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Many of them were exempted from military service and could therefore pursue religious studies. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, and the military is looking for personnel to fill the gaps.

Gantz remains vague on Palestinian statehood. Opinion polls suggest he would have enough support to become prime minister if a vote were held today.
If a visit to the United States leads to progress on the hostage situation, Gantz’s approval ratings could rise further.

Israel and Hamas are negotiating a possible new ceasefire and hostage release deal. Vice President Harris said Sunday that Hamas’s consent is now needed. “Given the tremendous suffering in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire is necessary for at least the next six weeks, and that is what is being discussed,” Harris said.

Israelis traumatized by Hamas attacks generally support the war, viewing it as an act of self-defense, even as global opposition to the fighting grows.

But more and more people are expressing frustration with Netanyahu. According to Israeli media reports, about 10,000 people protested on Saturday night, calling for early elections. Such protests have increased in recent weeks but remain much smaller than last year’s demonstrations against the government’s justice reform plans.

Reuven Hazan, a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that if political differences widen and Gantz quits the government, then the public will face wider protests, and the public is already dissatisfied with the government when Hamas launches the attack.

An Israeli attack on Sunday targeted a house in the Nuserat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 12 people, including five women and 2 children. Two Israeli attacks southwest of Deir al-Balah killed at least five people and destroyed a rescue truck, witnesses and hospital staff said.

White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein will travel to Lebanon on Monday to meet with officials amid concerns about broader regional conflict, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment. White House officials want Lebanese and Israeli officials to prevent border tensions from worsening.