Slovenia on Wednesday introduced a ban on imports of goods produced in Israeli settlements and approved an additional aid package for Palestinians in Gaza, the government said in a statement.

“The government today banned the import of goods originating from settlements in the occupied territories, including a ban on circumventing the ban on these imports,” the statement on the government website said.

The statement did not specify whether the ban refers to all goods produced in the territories or just Israeli goods.

The government also instructed the competent ministries to consider banning the export of goods from Slovenia intended for these Israeli communities.

“Israeli government’s actions, including the construction of illegal settlements, expropriations, the forced displacement of the Palestinian population, the destruction of their homes … constitute serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law,” Prime Minister Robert Golob said in statement quoted by the STA news agency.

“These actions not only threaten the lives and dignity of the Palestinian population, but also the foundations of the international order.”

The news agency said the volume of goods affected is extremely low at under 2,000 euros ($2,327.60) in 2023.

The government also said on Wednesday it would provide material assistance in the form of food and blankets, estimated to be worth up to 879,490 euros, to the Palestinians affected by the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state in June last year, following Spain, Ireland, and Norway.

Last week, it imposed an embargo on exports, imports, and the transit of arms to Israel, two weeks after it declared Israeli ministers persona non grata.

Israel’s military chief has pushed back against Benjamin Netanyahu‘s plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn’t already control, three Israeli officials said, as the prime minister faces increasing pressure over the war both at home and abroad.

During a tense, three-hour meeting on Tuesday, Eyal Zamir, the military chief of staff, warned the prime minister that taking the rest of Gaza could trap the military in the territory, which it withdrew from two decades ago, and could lead to harm to the hostages being held there, the sources briefed on the meeting said.

The Israeli military says it already controls 75 percent of Gaza after nearly two years of war, which began when terrorist group Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities in October 2023. It has repeatedly opposed imposing military rule, annexing the territory, and rebuilding Jewish settlements there.

Netanyahu is under intense international pressure to reach a ceasefire in the coastal enclave, which has been reduced to rubble in the fighting.

The military, which accuses Hamas of operating amongst civilians, has at times avoided areas where intelligence suggested hostages were held and former captives have said their captors threatened to kill them if Israeli forces approached.

Netanyahu told Zamir that so far the military had failed to bring about the release of the hostages, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Most of those freed so far came about as a result of diplomatic negotiations.

Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X Wednesday that the military chief has both the right and the duty to voice his opinion, but said that the military would carry out the government’s decisions until all war objectives are achieved.

The prime minister’s office confirmed the meeting with Zamir on Tuesday but declined to comment further and the military did not respond to a request for comment.

The prime minister is scheduled to discuss military plans for Gaza with other ministers on Thursday. A fourth source said Netanyahu wants to expand military operations in Gaza to put pressure on Hamas.

Netanyahu, who in May said that Israel would control all of Gaza, leads a right-wing coalition government, and some of his key partners have in the past threatened to quit if the government ended the war.

Following a 40-minute meeting with the prime minister on Wednesday, opposition leader Yair Lapid told reporters he had advised Netanyahu that the public was not interested in continuing the war and that a full military takeover would be a very bad idea.

A public poll last month by Israel’s Channel 12 also showed support for a diplomatic deal that would end the war and secure the release of the hostages.

There are 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, of whom at least 20 are believed to be alive. Videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group in Gaza, last week of two extremely emaciated captives triggered international condemnation.

The latest ceasefire talks in Qatar broke down last month. Hamas insists any deal must lead to a permanent end to the war, while Israel accuses the group of lacking sincerity about giving up power afterward and must be defeated.

The war in Gaza has also overextended Israel’s military, which has a small standing army and has had to repeatedly mobilize reservists. It is not clear if more reservists would be needed to expand operations and take more territory.

About 1,200 people were killed, including more than 700 civilians, and 251 hostages taken to Gaza after the Hamas attack on Israel.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday the Lebanese government was committing a “grave sin” by tasking the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms, sharpening a national divide over calls for the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim terrorist group to disarm.

Despite unprecedented pressure from Washington and from its domestic rivals, the Iranian proxy has refused to fully relinquish its arsenal, which it retained after Lebanon‘s civil war ended in 1990 even as other militias disarmed.

Now, the US has demanded Lebanon‘s cabinet explicitly pledge to strip Hezbollah of its weapons – a move that risks reigniting tensions in Lebanon, a nation of multiple sects where Hezbollah retains significant support among Shi’ites.

The cabinet on Tuesday tasked the Lebanese army with drawing up a plan to confine arms across the country to six official security forces by year’s end.

Hezbollah rejected the decision in a written statement on Wednesday, saying it was a result of US “diktats” and that it would “deal with it as if it does not exist.”

“The government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam committed a grave sin by taking a decision to strip Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy … This decision fully serves Israel’s interest,” the group said.

The statement said Shi’ite ministers walked out of the cabinet session before the decision was reached as “an expression of the resistance’s [Hezbollah‘s] rejection of this decision.”

The group said it remained ready to discuss a broader national security strategy and called on its supporters to remain patient.

WAR WITH ISRAEL

The session at Lebanon‘s presidential palace was the first time the cabinet addressed Hezbollah‘s weapons – unimaginable when the group was at the zenith of its power before a devastating war with Israel last year.

A US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel in November ended that conflict, called on Lebanon to confiscate all “unauthorized” weapons across the country, and said Israel would stop offensive operations against Lebanese targets.

But Israel has kept its troops at five points in Lebanon‘s southern border region and has continued air strikes against what it says are Hezbollah fighters and arms depots.

In June, the US submitted a roadmap to Lebanese officials that proposed Hezbollah fully disarm in exchange for Israel withdrawing its troops and halting its strikes.

Hezbollah and its main ally, the Amal Movement led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, have demanded the order be reversed, saying Israel must halt its strikes before any discussion on weapons can be held.

On Wednesday, Amal said Lebanon‘s government should focus on consolidating the November ceasefire and said the next cabinet session on Thursday would be a chance to correct course.

Ministers will meet again on Thursday to continue discussions on the US proposal.

Imad Salamey, chairman of the Lebanese-American University’s Department of Political and International Studies, said the country’s Shi’ite community, hit hardest by last year’s war, was now concerned that relinquishing Hezbollah‘s arms would leave them vulnerable to further Israeli attacks.

“We are most probably going into a polarized political landscape,” he told Reuters.