Netanyahu tours Gaza: Shin Bet is notably absent

Prime Minister Netanyahu toured northern Gaza yesterday (Tuesday). Although these kind of events usually include a Shin Bet representative, this time a Shin Bet representative was absent from the tour, amid controversies in Netanyahu's office, the intention to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, and unprecedented attacks from the government against him.

A source from the Prime Minister's Office responded: "A Shin Bet representative was invited to the security discussion that was supposed to take place at the end of the tour (and was ultimately canceled due to scheduling constraints)." The Shin Bet declined to comment on the report.

Yesterday's tour in northern Gaza included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Southern Command Commander Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, and commanders of divisions and brigades. Accompanying the tour were Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi, the Prime Minister's military secretary Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, and the Prime Minister's spokesperson, Dr. Omer Dostri.

"I'm here with the Defense Minister, with IDF commanders, and our fighters, both regular and reservists, who are doing an amazing job. They are doing phenomenal work in the Gaza Strip. They are striking the enemy, and Hamas will suffer more and more blows," Netanyahu said during the tour. "We insist that they release our hostages, and we are committed to achieving all our war objectives, thanks to our heroic fighters. They are simply doing an incredible job."

During the tour, Prime Minister Netanyahu received a security briefing from the commanders in the sector about the IDF's operations to free the hostages and defeat Hamas in Gaza. Then Netanyahu and Katz held discussions with division commanders, brigade commanders, battalion commanders, and both reserve and regular soldiers.

Katz said, "This outpost we are standing on overlooks Gaza, strikes the heads of terrorists, targets terror infrastructure, and at the same time protects Israeli communities: this is the path we are taking, and these are our lessons."

Channel 12 contributed to this article.