Renowned cartoonist Steve Bell, who has been a fixture at The Guardian for four decades, has been let go by the newspaper amidst a dispute surrounding his depiction of Israeli Occupation leader Benjamin Netanyahu, as reported by the BBC.

Bell's cartoon portrayed Netanyahu conducting surgery on his own abdomen, with a surgical incision mimicking the outline of the Gaza Strip.

-Why was it pulled?-

The decision to pull the cartoon came after a phone conversation with the paper, where it was suggested that the image might allude to Shakespeare's character Shylock's infamous "pound of flesh" demand.

Shylock, the moneylender character from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," embodies a longstanding and harmful Jewish stereotype due to his avaricious disposition.

In the play, Shylock demands a pound of Antonio's flesh if a debt is not repaid promptly.

-Bell weighs in-

Bell, in an explanation to the BBC, expressed his bewilderment at The Guardian's interpretation, as he believed there was no connection to the play.

He described the cartoon as portraying Netanyahu on the verge of performing self-surgery, wearing boxing gloves, with the potentially disastrous consequences yet to unfold.

Bell drew inspiration from a 1960s cartoon by the late David Levine, depicting President Lyndon B. Johnson displaying his surgical scar shaped like a map of Vietnam.

-Contract renewal off the table-

A spokesperson for Guardian News and Media (GNM) stated, "The decision has been made not to renew Steve Bell's contract. Steve Bell's cartoons have been an important part of the Guardian over the past 40 years - we thank him and wish him all the best."

This comes as Operation Aqsa Typhoon, launched by Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, continues for the tenth consecutive day in response to Israeli Occupation violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, which have been ongoing for decades.

In retaliation, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) has launched a campaign against the Gaza Strip, conducting a series of airstrikes in various areas.