Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday urged colleagues to reject a ceasefire deal in the country’s bloody conflict with Hamas.
He also outraged some families of hostages held by Hamas by saying he has repeatedly blocked ceasefire deals over the past year.
“I call on my colleague, [Finance] Minister Bezalel Smotrich, to join forces with me, and together we’ll work against the nascent deal,” the far-right minister said on X.
“In the last year, using our political power, we managed to prevent this deal from going ahead, time after time.”
Israel and Hamas are close to reaching a deal on a ceasefire, according to Qatari mediators. AP reported Jan. 14 that Hamas had accepted the deal.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, said he hoped a deal will be approved and herald peace in the Middle East.
“The agreement being finalized in these hours on the ceasefire and hostage release is very important news,” Tajani said, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel’s current military campaign against Hamas began after it was attacked by the militant group on Oct. 7, 2023. Over a thousand people were killed and hundreds were taken hostage.
The Israeli government has been under intense pressure to agree a ceasefire deal that would see Hamas release the hostages it still holds.
The government has also been under external pressure due to the civilian cost of the war, which has been higher due to its bombing of hospitals and reluctance to allow humanitarian aid to flow freely into Gaza. Several European countries have accused Israel of committing genocide, a charge it denies.
Nevertheless, Israel’s assault on densely populated Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them women and children. The health ministry in the territory estimates the deaths at 46,000 people, a figure the Lancet medical journal said last week is underestimated by around 40 percent.
Ben-Gvir now says he lacks the power to prevent the deal from going through, in light of Sa’ar’s New Hope party having joined the government last September. He and Smotrich have previously threatened to bring down Israel’s government to prevent a ceasefire.
Speaking alongside Tajani, Sa’ar said: “I believe that if we achieve this hostage deal, we will have a majority in this government that will support the agreement.”
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