Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
- author, Yaroslav Lukikh
- role, BBC News
- Reported by London
-
Two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers have warned they will resign and collapse the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire proposal announced by U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said they were opposed to reaching any agreement before Hamas is destroyed.
But opposition leader Yair Lapid has pledged to back the government if Netanyahu backs the plan.
The prime minister himself insisted that there would be no permanent ceasefire until Hamas’ military and governing power was destroyed and all hostages were released.
Biden’s three-part proposal begins with a six-week ceasefire during which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza. The agreement would ultimately lead to the release of all hostages, a permanent “cessation of hostilities,” and a plan for the large-scale reconstruction of Gaza.
But in a social media post on Saturday, Smotrich said he had told Netanyahu that he “won’t be part of a government that agrees to the proposed outline and ends the war without destroying Hamas and releasing all the hostages.”
Ben Gvir echoed his words, saying: “This agreement marks an end to the war and an abandonment of the goal of destroying Hamas. This is a reckless agreement, a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel.”
He vowed to “dissolve the government” rather than agree to the proposal.
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition holds a slim majority in parliament and is relying on a number of factions, including Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party (six seats) and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party (seven seats), to stay in power.
But one of Israel’s most influential opposition politicians, Yair Lapid, was quick to throw his support behind the embattled prime minister, whose Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) party holds 24 seats.
He said Prime Minister Netanyahu had “a safety net in place for a hostage deal if Ben Gvir and Smotrich leave the government.”
The unrest came as tens of thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to accept Biden’s plan. They also called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign. Clashes broke out between protesters and police, with some protesters reportedly being detained.
In a joint statement on Saturday, Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators called on both Israel and Hamas to “finalize” Biden’s proposed agreement.
“As a mediator in ongoing talks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and detainees,” the official said, “we urge both Hamas and Israel to conclude an agreement that embodies the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”
British Chancellor Rishi Sunak also voiced his support for the plan, telling reporters that if Hamas accepted the plan the British government would be “able to get much more aid into Gaza”.
Earlier, a senior Hamas politician told the BBC that if Israel “agreed with this agreement, Hamas would be in favor”.
But in a statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s “conditions for ending the war have not changed.”
The resolution listed these as “the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the release of all hostages, and guarantees that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel.”
The statement added that Israel “will continue to insist that these conditions are met” before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Rafah on Saturday and there were reports of Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city on the Egyptian border.
Shelling and shooting were also reported in Gaza City, in the northern Palestinian territories.
More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, leaving some 1,200 people dead and 252 taken as hostages back to Gaza.
