Israeli press review: Israel’s genocide in Gaza costs over $140bn
Cost of Israel’s genocide in Gaza
The cost of the Israeli genocide in Gaza has reached some 420bn shekels ($140bn), and is likely to hit half a trillion shekels soon, according to an investigation by TheMarker published on Sunday.
“The price of one day of weakness is terrible, and therefore we must not reach that point again,” a former army chief told the Israeli outlet, referring to the military’s failure to prevent the Hamas-led attack in October 2023.
“If we had received enough security, there would probably be no need to double the defence budget over the coming decade,” an economic expert told TheMarker, referring to the latest increase in the Defence Ministry’s budget.
In 2026, the ministry’s budget exceeded 175bn shekels for the third consecutive year, more than double the 84bn shekel budget in 2022.
While it is too early to determine whether the additional funds have delivered greater security for Israel, officials told TheMarker that “similar or better results could have been achieved in a shorter war”.
According to the report, the Israeli military adopted a costly and wasteful approach to its wars, firing bombs and shells at unprecedented levels in the early stages of the conflict and mobilising some 220,000 reservists.
“In the first weeks, too much fire was used,” a former army officer said, referring to the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The officer added that Israel quickly ran short of tank shells and bombs.
Mamdani 'enemy of Israel' in Likud campaign
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party launched a billboard campaign on Sunday depicting foreign leaders deemed enemies of Israel.
Netanyahu shared a picture of the huge billboard in Tel Aviv on X, which features Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem.
Zohran Mamdani, the recently elected mayor of New York City, was also featured on the Likud billboard.
"They want Netanyahu to lose. Don't let them win," the billboard read.
אל תתנו להם לנצח pic.twitter.com/JgvJXAPtia
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) August 16, 2026
On Monday, Netanyahu uploaded a video featuring Erdogan and Mamdani. It showed the Turkish president comparing Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler and Mamdani describing the Israeli prime minister as a war criminal.
“They want Netanyahu to lose,” Netanyahu wrote in the caption, repeating the billboard’s message.
Raid on Unrwa facility in Jerusalem
The Jerusalem municipality has taken over an Unrwa school and clinic in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, Haaretz reported on Monday.
According to Roland Friedrich, Unrwa’s director for the occupied West Bank, municipality officials replaced the locks and carried out repairs at the agency’s largest complex in the refugee camp, in violation of international law.
'These are properties belonging to the UN and enjoy immunity under international law'
- Roland Friedrich, Unrwa’s director for West Bank
Both the school and clinic were closed by the Israeli government over the past year, with the municipality promising to replace the services provided by the UN agency to camp residents.
However, Haaretz reported that the municipality has yet to establish a new school for the camp’s children.
"These are properties belonging to the UN and enjoy immunity under international law, which explicitly prohibits entry into them without authorisation," Friedrich told Haaretz.
"Over the years, Unrwa has invested enormous sums in establishing and developing these buildings," the UN official added, stating he is worried about the latest violation of international law by the Jerusalem municipality.
The municipality rejected Friedrich's claim, arguing Unrwa invaded private land and failed to pay for it, adding it intends to build a school for the camp's residents.
Early Islamic-era shopping centre uncovered in car park
An extraordinary Islamic-era archaeological discovery has been uncovered during excavations beneath the car park of a football stadium in Ramat Gan, a city near Tel Aviv, Haaretz reported on Sunday.
Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the government body responsible for archaeological excavations, said they had uncovered a 2,500-square-metre industrial and commercial complex dating to the late seventh or early eighth century.
According to the report, the researchers found streets, kilns, shops and warehouses dating to the period of Muslim rule in historic Palestine.
Researchers working at the site believe its construction was planned by a central authority with significant resources, which were directed towards developing the complex.
"The main phase at the site was planned in detail and in advance by engineers. It was built with the knowledge of the regional authorities, and perhaps even at their initiative and with their funding," an IAA researcher told Haaretz.
The site is believed to have served as a major economic centre for travellers along the road from Jerusalem to Ramla, the district capital at the time.
According to the report, researchers do not know the site’s name, who lived there or how it was connected to other communities in the area. They believe it was abandoned in the ninth century, repopulated as a residential site in the 10th century and finally abandoned in the following century.