Ben-Gvir quits the Israeli coalition after it supports the ceasefire agreement with Gaza
Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Saturday that he would quit Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government in protest at the ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas.
The Israeli government approved the multi-stage deal early Saturday that will end the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and pave the way for the release of the 98 hostages still held there.
But some far-right members of the Cabinet voted against the agreement, and Ben-Gvir later said he would make good on his earlier threat to quit the government on Sunday, when the first six-week phase of the agreement – which he called “terrible” – is set to begin .
Despite the exit of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party, Netanyahu’s coalition will retain a narrow two-seat majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, as his ultra-nationalist ally Bezalel Smotrich – Israel’s finance minister – appeared willing to remain in government.
Earlier this week, Smotrich threatened to withdraw from government if Israel does not resume the war when the first phase of the deal ends – in which Hamas will release 33 hostages from Israeli prisons in return for the release of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners six weeks time.
He reiterated that threat on Saturday, but said Netanyahu was committed to making changes in the conduct of the war and seeking a “gradual takeover of the entire Gaza Strip.”
“Look at Gaza, it is destroyed, uninhabitable and will stay that way,” he said in a statement on Telegram. “Don’t be impressed by our enemy’s forced joy. . . Very soon we will erase their smiles and replace them with cries of grief and the sobs of those who were left with nothing.”
In a short recorded address released Saturday evening, Netanyahu said the governments of outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden and his successor Donald Trump support Israel’s right to restart the war if talks on the details of the second phase fail should.
“If we must return to fighting, we will do so in a new way and with great strength,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the ceasefire would come into force on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. GMT). Later that day, Hamas is expected to release three hostages and Israel will release 95 Palestinian prisoners in the first exchange under the deal.
However, in an indication of the fragility of the agreements, Netanyahu said on Saturday evening that Israel would not move forward with the deal until Hamas provided him with a list of hostages to be released. “Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” he said.
If the deal is implemented as planned, negotiations on the details of the second phase will begin on the 16th day of the first phase. During this time, the remaining living hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war.
The third and final phase includes the return of the remaining bodies of the deceased hostages and the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
