January 16, 2025
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, during an interview in Tel Aviv, Israel on 5 December, 2024 [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has demanded the war against the besieged Gaza Strip continue with more force, Channel 12 reported.
Israeli media outlets said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressured Smotrich to resist a call from allied far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to quit the government if it approves a ceasefire deal.
After several consultations on Tuesday, Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism Party, issued a video statement on social media saying he has put several conditions to accepting the deal, including demanding that the army resume fighting after the ceasefire if “Hamas’s rule is not overthrown; reducing humanitarian aid; controlling an area in the Gaza Strip forever; and carrying out operations to encourage the emigration of Gaza residents.”
“I will not remain in the government for a single day if we do not return to fighting until victory. Whoever kidnaps the kidnapped must die, and after the liberation [of the Israeli captives in Gaza] we must return and eliminate him,” he added.
Earlier, Ben-Gvir described in a video statement that a ceasefire deal would be like “surrendering” to Hamas and called on Smotrich to join him and cooperate against concluding the deal.
US President Joe Biden announced yesterday evening that a deal had been struck and would go into effect on Sunday, however Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that a cabinet meeting to ratify the deal was not going to be held, claiming Hamas had backtracked on the deal.
The Palestinian resistance group said it was fully committed to the ceasefire.