ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has overruled an order by his defence minister to build a field hospital in Israel to treat sick Gaza children, officials said.

The decision was a new sign of divisions within Netanyahu’s ruling coalition over its handling of the war in Gaza in the face of persistent international criticism of the high civilian toll.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced this week that he had ordered the building of a “temporary hospital” in Israel to treat sick children from Gaza.

Gallant discussed the project in a call with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, a government statement said Wednesday.

Reports said the hospital would be built close to Israel’s border with Gaza to help children suffering from cancer, diabetes and other illnesses who could not get treatment in the Palestinian territory.

But the prime minister’s office announced suddenly today that Netanyahu “does not approve the establishment of a hospital for Gazans within Israeli territory – therefore, it will not be established”.

An Israeli official told AFP the defence ministry first asked the prime minister’s office two weeks ago “to speed up the evacuation of patients, especially sick children”, from Gaza.

“No response was received, so the minister issued an order to the army to establish a field hospital within Israeli territory as an immediate solution for sick children.

“The prime minister cancelled the order and, for political reasons, blocked a humanitarian solution,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Gallant and Netanyahu are longtime rivals. In March last year, the prime minister sacked his minister, a former general, after he spoke out against judicial reforms. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets and Netanyahu revoked his decision.