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Jerusalem, Dec 31 (EFE).- The politician Israel Katz, current Minister of Energy of Israel, will be the new head of Foreign Affairs, replacing Eli Cohen, a change that occurs amid growing international criticism of the Israeli offensive. on the Gaza Strip, which has caused more than 21,800 deaths.
The Government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed this Sunday to the change, which comes a year after the formation of the current Executive, as part of an internal rotation agreement of the Likud, the president’s party, signed last year.
Cohen will take over from Kat in the Energy portfolio, although he will remain in Israel’s Security Cabinet, according to a government statement.
This exchange is subject to the approval of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, in which the right-wing government coalition occupies 64 of the 120 seats.
Cohen has been chancellor since December 29, 2022, when Netanyahu’s current term began.
For his part, Katz was already Foreign Minister between 2019 and 2020 under Netanyahu, in addition to having held other ministries since 2023, such as Intelligence and Finance.
After the outbreak of war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza last October, Israel had serious diplomatic disagreements with countries such as Turkey and Spain, which questioned the enormous cost of lives of the Israeli military operation among the civilian population of the Palestinian Strip.
Even the UN has approved resolutions for a ceasefire that have been blocked by the United States, Israel’s main ally.
On Saturday, Netanyahu assured that the war “will last several more months,” without specifying Israel’s post-war plan in Gaza.
The war broke out on October 7 after a massive attack by Hamas that included the launching of rockets and the simultaneous infiltration of some 3,000 militiamen into Israel who massacred some 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 in towns near Gaza.
The Israeli Army maintains a strong offensive by air, land and sea against the Palestinian enclave, where there are already more than 21,800 dead, most of them children and women, in addition to another 7,000 missing under the rubble due to the bombings, and they are More than 56,100 were injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, under Hamas control.
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