Ben-Gvir will leave the Israeli coalition after it approved a cease-fire agreement in Gaza
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Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Saturday that he will resign from Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government in protest against a ceasefire and hostage release deal it struck with Hamas.
The Israeli government approved a multi-phase deal — which will end the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and pave the way for the release of the 98 hostages still being held there — early Saturday.
But some far-right cabinet members voted against the deal, and Ben-Gvir later said he would follow through on his previous threat to quit the government on Sunday, when the first six-week phase of the deal — which he called “horrible” — was due to begin.
Despite the departure of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party, Netanyahu’s coalition will retain a slim two-seat majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament as his ultra-nationalist ally Bezalel Smotrich — Israel’s finance minister — appeared set to remain in government.
Earlier this week, Smotrich threatened to quit the government if Israel does not resume the war when the first phase of the deal – during which Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for the release of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails – ends in six weeks’ time.
He repeated the threat on Saturday, but said Netanyahu had pledged to make changes in the management of the war and aim for a “gradual takeover of the entire Gaza Strip”.
“Look at Gaza, it is destroyed, uninhabitable, and will remain so,” he said in a statement to Telegram. “Do not be impressed by the forced joy of our enemy. . . Soon we will erase their smile again and replace it with wails of sorrow and the sobs of those who are left with nothing.”
In a short pre-recorded address released Saturday night, Netanyahu said the administrations of both outgoing US President Joe Biden and his successor, Donald Trump, supported Israel’s right to continue the war if negotiations on the details of the second phase fail.
“If we have to go back to the fight, we will do it in new ways, and we will do it with great force,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said the ceasefire would take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday. Later in the day, Hamas is expected to release three hostages and the Israelis are expected to free 95 Palestinian prisoners in the first exchange under the deal.
However, in an indication of the deal’s fragility, Netanyahu said on Saturday night that Israel would not proceed with the deal until Hamas provided it with a list of hostages to be released. “Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” he said.
If the work goes ahead as planned, negotiations on the details of the second phase will begin by the 16th day of the first phase. During that time, the remaining living hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.
The third and final phase will involve the return of the remaining bodies of the dead hostages and the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the UN.
