Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday described settlers attacking humanitarian aid trucks on their way to the Gaza Strip as “militias” affiliated with the government.

Lapid said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio: “The rioters who attack aid trucks are militias sponsored by the ruling regime,” referring to the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In recent weeks, dozens of right-wing Israelis attacked trucks carrying humanitarian aid on their way to the Gaza Strip, and closed the roads leading to the crossings through which the trucks pass.

Israeli right-wingers documented in video clips that they stopped trucks and destroyed humanitarian aid without the authorities intervening to stop the attacks.

The attacks on humanitarian aid trucks caused international criticism, including from the United States of America, which described what happened as unacceptable.

In a separate context, Lapid, during his speech on Army Radio, called for "limiting the role of the Palestinian Authority after the war in Gaza to civilian issues, not security."

He added: “We need a model like Areas A and B, where the Israeli army enters and operates there whenever it wants to,” referring to the classification of areas in the West Bank, where Areas A is subject to Palestinian civil and security control, while Area B is subject to Palestinian civil and Israeli security control. .

He pointed out, "We should not allow Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) to deal with the security issue."

Lapid's statements came in the wake of controversy in Israel after Defense Minister Yoav Galant's statements rejecting the establishment of Israeli military rule in the Gaza Strip, which was attacked by those close to Netanyahu, who had previously announced on more than one occasion his refusal to return the Palestinian Authority to administering the Strip.