Two allies in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition warned on Saturday night that they would resign from their government if the prime minister went ahead with a ceasefire deal brokered by Joe Biden.
The U.S. president announced Friday that Israel has presented a new roadmap for a complete ceasefire, including the release of hostages held by Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
But Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the party would “dissolve the government” if the deal went through, calling the proposal a “triumph for terrorism and a security risk to the State of Israel.”
“Agreeing to such a deal is not a complete victory, it's a complete defeat,” he said.
Bezalel SmotrichThe finance minister said he would “not be part of a government that agrees with the outline proposed.”
“We demand that the war continue until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned,” Smotrich said, adding that he opposed one of the steps in the plan announced by Biden that would allow displaced Gaza residents to return to northern Gaza and “total release of terrorists.”
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that destroying Hamas was part of the Israeli plan outlined by Biden.
The Israeli prime minister also played down the proposal, saying a permanent ceasefire in Gaza was “impossible” until long-standing conditions to end the war were met.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid vowed to provide Netanyahu with a “safety net for hostage deals” if Ben Gvir and Smotrich leave government.
The Prime Minister is facing increasing political pressure over the war.
Without the support of Ben Gvir and Smotrich's parties, Netanyahu's coalition government could lose its majority in parliament.
This comes after Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet, introduced a bill on Friday to dissolve the Israeli government and remove him from his position as prime minister.
Netanyahu insisted on Friday that “Israel's conditions for ending the war remain unchanged: the destruction of Hamas' military and governing power, the release of all hostages and a guarantee that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel. In this proposal, Israel will continue to insist that these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is implemented.”
The US president declared on Friday that Hamas fighters are “no longer capable of carrying out” large-scale attacks on Israel like those on October 7. He called on Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement to release about 100 remaining hostages and about 30 more bodies in order to extend the ceasefire.
The first phase of the agreement, which Biden said would last six weeks, includes a “full and total ceasefire,” the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all populated areas of Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of many hostages, including women, elderly and wounded.
The second phase includes the release of all surviving hostages, including male soldiers, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The third phase calls for the start of a major rebuild of Gaza, which will take decades to rebuild from the devastation caused by the war.
Biden acknowledged that it would be difficult to keep the proposal on schedule because “the details need to be negotiated” to move from phase one to phase two. Biden said Israel could resume military operations if Hamas did not meet its obligations under the agreement.
Hamas said it viewed the proposal “positively” and called on Israel to declare a clear commitment to an agreement that would include conditions such as a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a prisoner exchange.
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