Two far-right Israeli ministers threatened to resign and drop Israel’s coalition government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts the Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by US President Joe Biden.
“It is time for this war to end,” Biden said as he announced his three-part plan that would begin with a six-week ceasefire.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said they were opposed to reaching any agreement before Hamas was destroyed.
But opposition leader Yair Lapid has pledged to back the government if Netanyahu supports the plan.
The prime minister himself insisted that there would be no permanent truce until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities were destroyed and all hostages were freed.
Biden’s proposal would begin with a ceasefire in which the Israeli army would withdraw from populated areas of Gaza. The deal would eventually lead to the release of all hostages, a permanent “cessation of hostilities” and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza.
But in a social media post on Saturday, Smotrich claimed that he told Netanyahu that he “would not be part of a government that accepts the proposed scheme and ends the war without destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages.” .
Echoing his words, Ben-Gvir said that “the plan means the end of the war and the abandonment of the goal of destroying Hamas. This is a reckless agreement, which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a threat to the security of the State of Israel” and he promised to “dissolve the government” before accepting the proposal.
Parliamentary arch in Israel
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has a slim majority in parliament, relying on a number of factions to maintain power, including Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which has six seats, and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, which has seven seats.
But Yair Lapid, one of Israel’s most influential opposition politicians, was quick to offer his support to the embattled prime minister. His party Yesh Atid (There is a future) has 24 seats.
Netanyahu “has our support for an agreement that includes the return of the hostages if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leave the government.”
The dispute occurred when tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to accept the plan proposed by Biden.
Many protesters also demanded Netanyahu’s resignation, with some telling reporters they feared the prime minister could torpedo the proposal.
A group campaigning to bring home Israeli hostages captured by Hamas warned that the deal would endanger the lives of those held captive.
During the protest, clashes broke out between attendees and police, who used mounted officers and water cannons to disperse the crowd. According to various information, some protesters were arrested.
Demonstrations have become a constant in Tel Aviv in recent months.
Families of the hostages and other anti-government activists have taken to the streets on several occasions to call for a deal on the hostages, as well as for Netanyahu to resign or call elections.
In a joint statement on Saturday, mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States urged both Israel and Hamas to “polish” Biden’s proposed deal.
Officials said that “as mediators in the current meetings to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages,” they were asking “both Hamas and Israel to work toward an agreement that incorporates the principles outlined by President Joe Biden.”
Also UK
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also offered his support for the plan, telling reporters that his government could “flood Gaza with a lot more aid” if Hamas accepts the ceasefire plan.
Previously, a senior Hamas politician told the BBC that he will “accept this deal” if Israel does so.
In a statement after Biden unveiled the plan, Netanyahu’s office insisted that Israel’s “conditions for ending the war have not changed.”
And he recalled that they were “the destruction of Hamas’s military and government capabilities, the release of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer represents a threat to Israel.”
The statement added that Israel “will continue to insist that these conditions be met” before agreeing to a permanent ceasefire.
However, the comments seemed vague enough for Netanyahu to claim that his goals had been achieved.
Netanyahu’s office did not mention “complete victory,” which he has repeatedly highlighted as a key goal for the war in Gaza.
This omission may allow the prime minister to reject criticism that the deal offers major concessions to Hamas.
On Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog commented on social media that he would give Netanyahu’s government his “full support for an agreement that would see the release of the hostages.”
“It is our obligation to bring them home within the framework of an agreement that preserves the security interests of the State of Israel,” he said.
Fighting continues in Rafah
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Rafah on Saturday, with reports of Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city on the border with Egypt.
Shelling and shooting were also reported in Gaza City, in the north of the Palestinian territory.
More than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 252, who were taken to Gaza as hostages.
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