| Independent{{Lower-alpha explanatory footnote|Dermer is not a member of a political party, but is commonly viewed as a Likud member due to his ties to Likud leader Netanyahu{{cn|date=October 2023}}|name=Dermer}}
| Independent{{Lower-alpha explanatory footnote|Dermer is not a member of a political party, but is commonly viewed as a Likud member due to his ties to Likud leader Netanyahu.{{cn|date=October 2023}}|name=Dermer}}
Hostilities were initiated in the early morning with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 missiles against Israel and vehicle-transported incursions into its territory.[7] Palestinian militants broke through the Gaza–Israel barrier and forced their way through Gaza border crossings, attacking nearby Israeli communities and military installations. At least 1,200 Israelis were killed, including a massacre at a music festival where at least 260 civilians were killed. Israeli soldiers and civilians, including children and elderly, were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.[8] Among the kidnapped were several other nationalities, including Chinese, British, and German.[9][10]
The war represents a tipping point in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Gaza–Israel conflict, which followed a violent year that saw increased expansion of Israeli settlements and clashes in Jenin, Al-Aqsa mosque, and Gaza, which killed almost 250 Palestinians and 36 Israelis;[b][13] Hamas cited these events as justification for the attack and called on Palestinians to join the fight to "expel the occupiers and demolish the walls".[14][15][16] In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared states of emergency and war, vowing a "mighty vengeance" against "terrorism".
Proposed emergency unity government with Yesh Atid
Netanyahu proposed that Yesh Atid and National Unity enter an emergency unity government with his Likud-led coalition,[19] after Lapid urged Netanyahu put "aside our differences and form an emergency, narrow, professional government".[20] Lapid said that Israel could not effectively manage the war with "the extreme and dysfunctional composition of the current cabinet" and called upon Netanyahu to eject the far-right Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit parties as a condition for Yesh Atid to join an emergency unity government.[20]
Emergency unity government with National Unity
The National Unity party met with Likud on 9 October to discuss a possible unity government, with National Unity likely to join such an arrangement.[21] Likud said the emergency unity government would be similar to the one formed before the Six-Day War in 1967. Levi Eshkol and then-opposition leader Menachem Begin joined hands for the duration of the War in the thirteenth government of Israel.[22]
The National Unity party agreed to join the government on 11 October.[23] Lapid ultimately refrained from joining the government; the addition of the National Unity Party was approved by the Knesset on 12 October.[3]
Scope
The war cabinet has the authority to "update, as necessary, military and strategic aims for the conflict", though it is subject to approval from the Security Cabinet of Israel.[24]
^In 2023, before the offensive started, at least 247 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces, while 32 Israelis and two foreign nationals had been killed by Palestinians.[11][12]
^Dermer is not a member of a political party, but is commonly viewed as a Likud member due to his ties to Likud leader Netanyahu.[citation needed]
