Israel-Gaza-Lebanon live updates: Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Gallant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with current Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz.

The prime minister and the defense minister must have “full trust” during war, and “in recent months that trust has been broken between me and the defense minister,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Netanyahu said he tried to close the gaps, but “they kept getting wider.”

“They also came into the public eye in an unacceptable way, and worse, they came into the enemy’s attention – our enemies were pleased with it and benefited greatly from it,” he said.

Netanyahu said that Katz “has already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of Finance, as Minister of Intelligence for five years and not least as a member of the security cabinet politics. for many years.”

“He is known as a bulldozer in a combination of responsibility and firmness, quiet firmness,” Netanyahu said.

The hostages’ families are criticizing Netanyahu’s decision, saying it is “unfortunate evidence of the Israeli government’s poor prioritization.”

“The firing of Defense Secretary Gallant is a direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal,” the families said in a statement. “We demand that the incoming Secretary of Defense express an explicit commitment to end the war and implement a comprehensive agreement for the immediate return of all hostages.”

Gallant said in a brief statement: “The security of the State of Israel has been and will always remain my life’s mission.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky