Hardline Israeli minister will resign if ceasefire agreement is ratified

17/1/2025 6:11

Israel's hardline National

Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday he would

resign from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if it

ratifies the ceasefire deal in Gaza, which he has strongly

opposed.



Israeli media outlets reported earlier that the cabinet was

expected to vote to ratify the agreement on Friday, but there

has been no confirmation from the prime minister's office.



"The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal," Ben-Gvir

said in a televised statement, saying it would "erase the

achievements of the war" by releasing hundreds of Palestinian

militants and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving

Hamas undefeated.



"If this irresponsible deal is approved and implemented, we

the members of Jewish Power will submit letters of resignation

to the prime minister," he said, adding that he would,

nonetheless, not seek to bring down the government.



The threat to quit came at the end of a day that saw

ratification of the deal held up by what Netanyahu's office said

was Hamas reneging on parts of the agreement reached with Qatari

and Egyptian mediators. However, U.S. officials said they

believed the issue had been ironed out and the ceasefire would

begin on Sunday, as planned.



Ben-Gvir this week urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,

who has described the deal as a "catastrophe," to join him in a

last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he

described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.



Smotrich's Religious Zionism party repeated its opposition

on Thursday, threatening to quit the government if it did not go

back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of

the ceasefire was completed.



The political tensions echo anger from some hostage

families, who believe their own relatives risk being abandoned

in Gaza and who have held a series of protests against the deal.



Under the multi-phase agreement, 33 hostages will be

released in the first stage before negotiations begin to agree

the release of the remaining 65 and the full withdrawal of

Israeli forces from Gaza. Some of the families believe the

second stage will not be agreed.



"This deal leaves dozens of hostages behind in Gaza. It also

sets the stage for the next massacre and future kidnappings of

Israelis," the Tivka Forum of Hostages' Families said in a

statement.