Israeli Interior Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and a prisoner release deal being discussed at talks in Qatar.
Ben-Gvir, whose departure will not bring down Netanyahu’s government, called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric to join him in a last-ditch effort to block the ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.
“This move is our only chance to prevent the implementation (of the deal) and prevent Israel’s surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which more than 400 IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers have fallen in the Gaza Strip, and to ensure that their deaths are not in vain,” Ben-Gvir wrote on social media.
Smotric said on Monday that he opposed the deal but did not threaten to destroy Netanyahu’s coalition. Most ministers are expected to support a phased ceasefire agreement, which details a cessation of fighting and the release of prisoners.
Ben Gvir echoed comments by Smotric, who said on Monday that Israel should continue its military campaign in Gaza until the complete surrender of the Palestinian Hamas movement, whose attack on October 7, 2023 triggered the war.
About 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, and more than 250 others were taken prisoner, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, Palestinian health officials say, with much of the enclave devastated and most of the population displaced.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt brokered the ceasefire deal and the agreements could be imminent, officials say.
Some families of the detainees are against the agreement because they fear that with a gradual agreement only some of the remaining 98 detainees will be released, and the rest will be left behind.
Multiple public opinion polls have shown broad support of the Israeli public for such an agreement, reports Reuters.
