A Palestinian was killed in clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank
Netanyahu announces reaching an agreement to form a new government
Netanyahu reached the formation agreement minutes before the end of the deadline granted to him.
Archive - A.F.B
The Israeli Prime Minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced on Wednesday night, minutes before the end of the deadline given to him to form a government coalition, that he had succeeded in forming a government with his partners from the religious and far-right parties.
This coincided with the killing of a Palestinian youth and the wounding of five others by Israeli army bullets in the West Bank city of Nablus.
In detail, Netanyahu said that he had reached an agreement to form a new government after weeks of unexpectedly difficult negotiations with religious coalition partners and the far right, and thus Netanyahu would succeed outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
"I managed (to form a government)," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter, minutes before the midnight deadline set by President Isaac Herzog.
For its part, the Israeli presidency confirmed that Netanyahu “contacted” President Herzog to “inform him” of this news within the specified time.
In a statement he published, Netanyahu said he had sent Herzog the following message: “Thanks to the great public support we received during the last elections, I inform you that I was able to form a government that will work for the benefit of all the citizens of Israel.”
According to Israeli election laws, Netanyahu had a deadline that expires on December 11 to announce his government, but he requested an extension of 14 days, which is the maximum permitted by law, but Herzog agreed to give him only 10 additional days.
The Israeli press had expected Netanyahu to announce his success in forming the government before Wednesday night ended, even if its details were not completed.
But Netanyahu's partners are known, and they are the two ultra-Orthodox religious parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, and the three extreme right-wing parties, which are religious Zionism led by Bezalel Smotrich, the Jewish Power led by Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Noam Party headed by Avi Maoz.
Netanyahu's conservative Likud party and like-minded national religious parties close to the ultra-Orthodox and West Bank settlers won a comfortable majority in the Nov. 1 election, giving Netanyahu control of 64 of the 120-seat Knesset.
However, approval of the formation of the government was hampered by disagreements over a proposed package of legislation on several issues such as planning authority in the West Bank and ministerial control over the police.
On the other hand, a Palestinian youth was killed and five others were wounded by Israeli army bullets in the West Bank city of Nablus early yesterday morning.
And the Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) reported that "large forces of the Israeli army, accompanied by a military bulldozer, stormed the eastern area of the city, to secure the settlers' storming of Joseph's shrine, amid the outbreak of violent confrontations and heavy firing of stun grenades, gas, live and rubber-coated metal bullets."
The agency indicated that with the death of this young man, the number of those killed since the beginning of this year has risen to 224, including 53 in the Gaza Strip.
For its part, the army said that its forces were securing the entry of Israelis to Joseph's Tomb in the city of Nablus in the West Bank, when Palestinians threw explosive devices and shot them.
He added in a statement that the soldiers returned fire, and injuries were reported.
Hamas announced that the dead man was one of its members.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the dead man as Ahmed Daraghmeh.
Palestinian officials said that Daraghmeh, a 23-year-old soccer player, was shot in the back and leg.
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