Ben-Gvir left the Israeli coalition after the Gaza cease-fire was approved

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Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givir said on Saturday that he would withdraw from Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government in opposition to a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

Israel’s government approved a multi-level deal – which would 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 – early Saturday.

But some members of the far-right cabinet opposed the deal, and Ben-Giv’ir said he would seek to withdraw from the government on Sunday, calling it the first six-week phase of the deal. Scary” – is about to begin.

Despite the resignation of Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power Party, Netanyahu’s coalition holds a slim two seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament as Israel’s finance minister – Bezalel Smotrich – looks set to remain in government.

Earlier this week, Smotrich threatened to leave the government if Israel did not continue the war, a six-week period as the first phase – when Hamas prepared to release 1,900 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for 33 hostages – ended.

He reiterated that threat on Saturday, but said Netanyahu aims to make changes in the management of the war and “gradually take control of the entire Gaza Strip.”

“Look at Gaza, it’s destroyed, it’s uninhabitable, and it’s going to stay that way,” he said in a statement on Telegram. “Do not be surprised at the joy that our enemy forces. . . We will soon extinguish their smiles again and replace them with cries of sorrow and weeping of those who lack nothing.

In a short pre-recorded speech published on Saturday evening, Netanyahu said he would support Israel’s right to continue the war if the administration of both US President Joe Biden and his successor, Donald Trump, fail to negotiate on the details of the second phase.

“If we have to go back to war, we will do it in a new way, and we will do it with great force,” Netanyahu said.

Earlier on Saturday, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said the ceasefire would take effect at 8:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. GMT) on Sunday. Hamas is expected to release three hostages that day, while Israel will release 95 Palestinian prisoners in the first exchange under the deal.

But in a sign of the deal’s fragility, Netanyahu said on Saturday evening that Israel would not proceed with the deal unless Hamas provided a list of hostages to be released. “Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” he said.

If the agreement is implemented as planned, negotiations on the details of the second phase will begin on the 16th day of the first phase. At this point, the remaining surviving hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds of additional Palestinian prisoners, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and a permanent end to the war.

The third and final phase involves the return of the bodies of the remaining hostages held by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza.