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announcer: and now, "bbc news" >> hello, i'm christian fraser. this is "the context." >> when the price is so heavy we will remember what we are fighting for. we are fighting to re our existence and future. we are planning to return all of our hostages. >> i believe we are reaching the end of this war in gaza. it will not take longer than a few weeks longer, maybe two, of you after that. >> mr. netanyahu took the decision that the more cabinet simply wasn't necessary anymore when he is goin continue to call the shots while in discussion with his close aides and closest ministers.

christian: israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu dissolves his war cabinet following the withdrawal of the main opposition leader benny gantz. so what happens next? marine le pen cries foul as friend football star kylian mbappe a parent his supporters to vote against the hard right. and subscription squads in the ukraine hunting down the draft dodgers. we have a special report from odesa. very good evening, it is debatable whether the dissolution of the israeli war cabinet will have any meaningful impact on their conflict in gaza. a decision-making will instead switch to the security cabinet. but the political ramifications might be more significant. it appears to be a deliberate snub to the far right allies in mr. netanyahu's coalition.

it is reported that mr. netanyahu will instead discuss policy with close advisors, before presenting his decision to the wider security cabinet. there is still a question whether he is fully involved in all the military decisions. this weekend, the idf announced they would be a tactical pause among the main highway in gaza between 8:00 and 7:00 in the evening to allow more humanitarian aid in. the decision appears to have blindsided the prime minister. so what does it mean for the direction of the conflict? with us tonight is a freelance journalist, expert on israeli politics, and a professor of government at georgetown university in qatar. welcome to you both. as we have reported, there were two far right ministers who wanted to join the war cabinet, both of them disdainful of the biden administration.

was this the correct position from the prime minister to strike a balance between his allies in washington and the demands of his coalition partners? >>was this the first of all, tht was a very important decision for netanyahu to make after october 7 because benny gantz was seen as the only moderate factor in netanyahu's government. he knew in order to get the biden administration to support israel's decisions, benny gantz was crucial. now that he is gone, he dissolves the war cabinet and now he is back with his security cabinet which has several far right as there is in it and then a smaller form that he relies on. we are already hearing him spin this as snubbing the far right ministers, saying in reality he will discuss those sensitive issues with some of his mo close advisors. i'm not so sure that is true. netanyahu is basically held

hostage politically not by the two far right ministers who will demand more influence on every decision, made her decision that impacts israel's war in gaza, but also its conflict with hezbollah in lebanon. christian: there are clearly division between mr. netanyahu and his senior commanders. reportedly he told his son to a regular meeting of the full cabinet, "in order to reach the goal of eliminating hamas, he made decisions not always acceptable to the military echelon." then we get this physician over the ekend to open up the road in gaza that appears to have been taken over his head. >> very true. first of all, there is a lot of confusion in general about israel's conduct of the war. sometimes netanyahu seems to be torpedoing the decisions made in the war cabinet, sometimes the military seems to be making its own decisions. it is very confusing to follow. what we can sum up here is that

netanyahu is under immense pressure from the far right ministers in his cabinet to come first of all, stop all negotiations with hamas, continue attacking hamas as much as possible inside gaza, but also to launch an invasion of lebanon to once and for all destroy hezbollah. i don't know how long he can continue to balance between the demands of those far right ministers and with the military will advise him to do. he is once again under immense pressure politically but also the people demonstrating in the streets in gaza. chriian: what do you think it means to the war in the way that it is fought? >> i don't think it matters much to the crse of the war. i think if there is any unity in israel right now at least among policymakers, it is to pursue the war for as long as possible and in as devastating a way as

possible in relation to gaza. i'm not sure if the political developments in israel are going to have any direct and tangible consequence on the israeli pursuit of the war in gaza. christian: there has been a material change, this road being opened, the main articular root to kan younis which has been open since the weekend. the main opening that been open for a week now they were the problem is not getting aid into gaza, it is distributing it. >> exactly. life has become unlivable, gaza has become uninhabitab for all intents and purposes. so we have a collection now ruins, places, cities that once existed, that housed hundreds of thousands of people, that are

uninhabitable. the roads continue to be destroyed. transportation, logistics, simple life, distribution of food, gathering of food, all of these daily routines of life have become struggles. i think the palestinians continue to suffer unfathomable suffering, for people like you and i, would be very difficult to relate on a daily basis. christian: saturday's demonstration in tel aviv was bigger than normal, the crowds that were there were addressed by one of the recently rescued hostages. he called on the government to make a deal to secure the release of the remaining captives. much pressure is benjamin netanyahu under right now? >> he had been under pressure since day one in particular regard to the hostages.

the social contract between israeli citizens and the government was broken october 7. you don't get to the people inside gaza, hostages who have done nothing wrong, taken on october 7 into gaza. families accuse netanyahu of leaving them behind. many have come out in doggyag -- b bags. some are calling on him to make a deal. lastly, and i would say more importantly, the military is saying we will not be able to get all the hostages out and rescue operations. some will have to be rescued through a deal. that means netanyahu has to make a decision. either you do everything to get the hostages out or you continue the war in gaza against thomas until you have completely destroyed the military. christian: i don't know if you read the piece in the wall street journal about where some

of those hostages were being held, but clearly, there are members of the civilian population who, for one reason or ather, may be under duress or not, part of hamas, are in civilian apartments. that makes it incredibly difficult for the military to retrieve all the hostages in gaza. >> absolutely makes it incredibly difficult. it is also worth remembering, all human life is precious. hostages need to be released. but we are sitting at a time when some 37,000 palestinians have also been killed. there is suffering on both sides. we have more than 100 israeli hostages in gaza, spread apparently throught e territory, the strip, and we

have hundreds of thousands of palestinians who are suffering the daily consequences of what has really become, as we heard earlier, netanyahu's war on palestine. there is suffering on every side. civilian, military, all sides. christian: just a final thought. there is some polling, quite different to what we've been talking about with the pressure that is on benjamin netanyahu, but some numbers suggest that his numbers have improved since benny gantz left the war cabinet. in fact, benny gantz's numbers have gone the other way. perhaps the decision he is taken reflects on the growing confidence of the prime minister. >> yes and no. the longer we get away from october 7, the more netanyahu's numbers will stabilize but overall he is still hugely unpopular. once we go to elections at some point, we will see some

political jokers being thrown into the political spectrum, such as the former prime minister naftali bennett, joseph common, they will likely join israeli politics. if they do, netanyahu has no future because they will steal most of the votes from likud and benny gantz. once there are elections held, i believe netanyahu's days are absolutely numbered. christian: live pictures coming to us from jerusalem. more protests again tonight. this is in the heart of jerusalem, you can see the protesters walking through the streets presumably toward the parliament. we said at the outset, some of our commentators said at the outset, we think there are weeks to run for this conflict. do you see that looking at the size of the protest? >> i completely agree that netanyahu is under pressure from

every side. given the fact that his political days are numbered, his long political career seems to be in mortal danger, i think he would try to prolong the war for as long as possible. christian: we have to leave it there, gentlemen. thank you for your thoughts this evening. thank you both. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbcews. ♪

christian: you are watching bbc news. we will focus on events in greece. a bbc investigation found the greek coast guard has caused the deaths of dozens of migraines in the mediterranean. the deaths are said to have haened over a three-year period. witnses say nine people were deliberately thrown into the water, others are said to have died because they were taken back to see.

the greek coast guard strongly rejects all accusations of illegal activity. for more on this is paul adams. a morning, viewers may find the content upsetting. >> migrants have used a number of groups to reach europe. some travel from north africa to italy, others cross from turkey to the nearby greek islands. for many, greece is seen as the best way to europe. last year, just over 41,000 people arrived using that route. human rights groups say thousands of people seeking asylum have been forced back illegally from greece to turkey, denied the right to seek asylum, something enshrined in international and eu law. tonight's documentary made for the bbc looks at the role of the greek coast guard in trying to stem the flow, and it raises some serious qions. for years, the greek authorities have been accused of taking sometimes uncompromising

attitude toward asylum-seekers attempting to reach the island. the bbhas documented some of these episodes and heard stories of other practices which appear to have breached international law. and now video on one such episode. on the island of those post, a group of migrants including women and children, are taken back to the shore and escorted by masked men to a waiting coast guard ship. about heads out to see out of greek waters. the migrants are put into a tiny life raft and set adrift, found later by the turkish authorities. greece says it is investigating. >> it doesn't seem like it is forceful. >> the footage is shown to the former head of coast guard operations. he says he sees nothing wrong with the video. during a break, he takes a different line.

the documentary contains other shocking allegations. he says he was shot at after coming ashore on the island of samos, taken back out to sea with two companions and thrown overboard. the two others around. >> [speaking non-english nguage] >> the greek coast guard says it strong rejects all accusations of illegal activities and works tirelessly and with the utmost professionalism and a strong sense of responsibility and respect for human life and fundamental rights. adding they were in full compliance with the country's international obligations. for nine years, greece has been on the front lines of an issue that resonates right across europe, in this year of

elections, stopping the boat remains as politically charged as it was when the refugee and migrant crisis erupted almost a decade ago. christian: the associate director of the north african program at the atlantic council has done extensive research on europe's efforts to stem migration from north africa. welcome to the program. grce has only denied that these pushpins are taking place. would it surprise you that the allegations in this bbceport? >> i think you cut off there, i am not sure -- i can hear you, sorry. christian: let me repeat the question for you. greece has always denied that the pushback that we are reporting on were taking place. does it surprise you, the findings of this report? >> the report in another itself

is not so surprising. what is surprising is how greece is trying to contradict any kind of wrongdoing that has taken place. there were videos, multiple accounts of the way that the greek coast guard intercepted and then led to the shipwreck that happened. what has decided to do is to go after the smugglers, but they defined to be the smugglers. a number of egyptian migrants trying to reach greece. recently in march 2024, a local greek court ruled it doesn't have the jurisdiction to try anyone outside of its borders. at this point, greece will have to really look into what the next steps are in terms of

finding suitable solutions for the victims. christian: not the first time we have reported on this kind of behavior from the greek coast guard. we reported on the vessel that went down in which 600 women, men, children lost their lives. the greek government at the time said it never treated the situation as a rescue. it was a standard law enforcement operation. is that perhaps whe this is going badly wrong? >> there is definitely a difficult balancing act that needs to be drawn when dealing with the arrival of what are known to be irregular migrants. on one hand, they can be seen, especially in the wake of the more recent terrorist attacks, as potentially threatening to europe. therefore, some of the migrants that arrive could be seen as a

potential security threat, and therefore, dulled by the authorities in such a way. there is also ample evidence that shows the vast majority, if not all migrants that reach europe, do not have any means to a security threat to european soil. in fact, many of the terrorists tried in the past were present on european soil far before, for many years. it is more a case of treating this within the realms of an immigration issue, something that needs to be accounted for by the entire european union, the direction they are trying to go with their new asylum and migration pack to be read christian: we have to leave it there. thank you. the campaign for the french general election got underway this morning with paul's suggesting the best scenario for president macron at the moment would be a hung parliament. the president called a snap

election a week ago after the far right national rally security convict victory in european elections. since then, three blocks have emerged. on the right, the national rally of marine le pen, on the left, the newly formed left-wing coalition known as the new popular front, and in the center, president macron and his allies. there will be two rounds of voting, the first on june 30, and then the second round runoff for the two leading candidates will be on july 7. all of it in the midst of the euros. naturally, the players are being asked their opinions, and it is the comments of kylian mbappe that is splashed across the page. the french stars that he wouldn't want to play for a french team ruled by the far right and has called on young people to vote to tackle rising next reason -- extremism. >> i think we are in a crucial moment in the history of our country. we have to evaluate things and

see what our values are. the euros are an important moment in our careers but we are citizens first of all and should not be connected to the world around us and even less from our country. so we know we are in a very important moment in the history of our country, unusual situation, and that is why i appeal to all the french generation and even more to the young people. we are a generation that can make a difference. christian: which has sparked a predictable reaction from the politicians. the national rally candidate said that it doesn't feel right for a sports player from a national team to tell people how do about. the president of the institute for european perspective and security studies, welcome to the program. i suppose those opposed to the rally will support kylian mbappe forgiving his thoughts, but there were others who think it is dangerous for a sports start to get involved in politics, especially when there is so much at stake with the french team.

was he right to see what he did? >> he was not the only one. 150 sportspeople from various places had decided to put a stand and say that there is a danger of the national rally. there is a lot of focus because we are in the euro, also because mbappe is very much appreciated, but a number of other tennis players, basketball players, of course, rugby players, football players. the situation in france is tense. of course, there is both sides of the picture. those who say he was right because he is a world model, he has a voice. by any means, he has the right to say what he thinks about the political situion. others are saying that he is only a football star, should not

interfere in politics. the situation is so important that he should not have said what he said. christian: others are commenting. nicholas sarkozy, the former president, said that mr. macron's decision was curious. he didn't appear to have been in the loop on this one, normalize the prime minister. it would have seemed to be a singular decision on the part of emmanuel macron. >> absolutely. there were some hints of a close partnership, at least some advice, listening to the former president. nicholas sarkozy was not the only former politician, political leader to take a stand. you have now the impression that francois hollande will be

reelected as a member of the parliament. he may well beresident of the national assembly if there is a win for one of the three blocks that mentioned, the leftist path, to prime minister, said that they were absolutely in opposition of the decision of the french president. nicholas sarkozy made it clear he would not have taken the decision, that it is a very dangerous decision, putting in opposition members of the national community. we have the impression that we are going to a three-block chamber with the national rally, the leftists. you mentioned the third pillar. it is not only made of -- christian: so i hung parliament in the offin

we will see what that means were french politics. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: f waso proded by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

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