Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has threatened to resign from the government if the ceasefire deal proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ratified. Netanyahu is set to lead a vote on the deal Friday morning.
Ben-Gvir described the ceasefire agreement as “irresponsible” and “reckless,” asserting that it would undo the achievements of the war by releasing Palestinian militants and retreating from strategic positions in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
In parallel, the country’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, declared his intention to resign if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi corridor in Gaza, as outlined in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Chikli, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, emphasized in a statement on X that any withdrawal without achieving the war’s goals would be unacceptable.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid expressed support for Netanyahu’s ceasefire deal, describing it as more significant than any political disagreement.
Ben-Gvir stated, “The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” he said in a televised statement, saying it would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian militants and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
In a similar vein, the country’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, also said he would resign if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi corridor, as outlined in phase one of the ceasefire deal.
In a statement posted to X, he wrote, “I hereby undertake that if, God forbid, there is a withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor (before the war goals are achieved), or if we do not return to fighting in order to complete the war goals – I will resign from my position as a government minister.”
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Chikli is the first member of the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led Likud party, to threaten to quit over details of the agreement.
Despite the ceasefire announcement, intense fighting has persisted in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes have reportedly killed at least 80 Palestinians and injured hundreds more since late Wednesday, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency. The Israeli military stated it had struck approximately 50 terror targets across the region.
In the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, civil defence teams reported recovering the bodies of five children following a strike.
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