Israeli opposition leader Lapid calls on Netanyahu to resign

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign over what he called the government's poor handling of the conflict with Palestine.

"Netanyahu needs to go now during the fighting," Lapid told Israel's Channel 12.

"This government isn't functioning," he said. "We need change — Netanyahu cannot continue to be prime minister. We cannot allow ourselves to conduct a prolonged campaign with a prime minister that the public has no faith in."

Lapid pointed out that his party, Yesh Atid, or There is Future, may join a "national reconstruction government" with the Likud Party, but stressed that "Netanyahu cannot lead it."

According to a recent poll, 66 percent of Israelis want early elections after the end of the recent Israeli war on besieged Gaza, which began after a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on October 7.

Since then, Israel has continued with its relentless bombardment of Gaza, killing at least 11,500 Palestinians, more than half of them being women and children. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have also either been damaged or fully destroyed.

The official Israeli death toll, meanwhile, stands at 1,200.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday calling for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and for urgent and extended humanitarian corridors throughout the enclave to save and protect civilian lives.