Netanyahu spars with Supreme Court, as IDF intensifies raids in occupied West Bank

A ruling from Israel’s Supreme Court has set off a constitutional crisis in the country occupying the Gaza strip where it wages a devastating bombing and ground invasion campaign, saying its military would begin pulling troops away.

Monday’s 8-7 ruling struck down a law passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government intended to limit the Supreme Court’s powers. The law’s passage in July had already sparked massive protests against the Netanyahu government’s attempted judicial overhaul, until the Hamas-led attack on 7 October brought wartime unity.

At least 21,978 people have been killed and 57,697 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack in Israel stands at 1,139.

The court’s decision sets the stage for a potential showdown between the top judicial authority and the ruling coalition. Many defenders of Israel’s liberal democracy view the Supreme Court as the only bulwark against Netanyahu’s government overreach.

Netanyahu’s Likud party said the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday was “in opposition to the nation’s desire for unity, especially in a time of war.”

The prime minister and his allies in late 2022 formed the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in Israel’s history. Critics of the law and the prime minister welcomed the court decision on Monday as a win for the people of Israel.

Benny Gantz, a political centrist who opposed the overhaul but entered an emergency wartime unity government with Netanyahu, said the ruling must be respected. “These are not days for political taunting, today there are no winners and losers,” he wrote on the social media site X. “Today we only have one common goal — to win the war, together.”

Israel’s military said on Monday that it would begin withdrawing several thousand troops from the Gaza Strip at least temporarily, citing the toll on the Israeli economy. On New Year’s Eve, though, a spokesman said the military was gearing up for fighting that would last “throughout” the coming year.

It was unclear what Netanyahu’s governing coalition would do after the ruling. It has argued that the Supreme Court has overreached its authority and subverted the will of the voters and the function of the elected government.

Israel’s military said Monday evening that there was a plan for the gradual return of Israeli residents to communities located just 2.5 miles from the border with Gaza, with additional defensive and emergency response measures.

Over 100 people were killed overnight in the Israeli air strike on the Maghazi refugee camp as some families are still trapped under the rubble.

Palestinian authorities have reported that 250 people were killed in waves of Israeli bombardment over 24 hours on Christmas. The attacks have taken place in the al-Amal neighbourhood in the southern city of Khan Younis, as well as the Bureij and Nuseirat camps and Juhor ad-Dik in central Gaza.

WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Gaza’s health system is under “unbearable strain” in a post on X on Monday.

An Israeli air attack outside Syria also killed a top Iranian military advisor, Sayyed Razi Mousavi, on Monday.

In the occupied West Bank, Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the political group, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was arrested in Ramallah.

Israeli forces raided different areas across the occupied West Bank, including the Tulkarem, Nablus and Hebron governorates. Israel’s ongoing attacks in Nur Shams, Tulkarem, also saw one house blown up by the Israeli military.