Far-right Israeli ministers threatened today to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he struck a truce with Hamas that would end the war in the Gaza Strip without destroying the radical Palestinian group that attacked Israel on October 7, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is the leader of the ultra-nationalist party "Jewish Power", wrote on the social platform "X" that he would assist in the overthrow of the coalition government.
According to him, a truce before the complete elimination of "Hamas" would be "reckless" deal "representing a victory for terrorism and a threat to Israel's national security".
Ben-Gvir's associate - the minister of finance in the coalition government, Betzalel Smotrich, in turn called today for the offensive in Gaza to continue until the destruction of "Hamas" and until the release of all Israeli hostages held by radical Islamists.
He also threatened that otherwise he would not remain in this government.
In his publication in "Ex" the leader of the party "Religious Zionism" stated that he too is against the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip under a possible temporary truce, the return of displaced Palestinians to the northern part of the enclave and the large-scale release of captured Palestinian fighters who are in Israeli prisons.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are not in the Israeli wartime cabinet formed by Netanyahu at the start of Israel's military operations in Gaza, Reuters recalls.
Meanwhile, Egypt and Qatar joined the US call on Israel and the radical Palestinian group "Hamas" to reach an agreement under the terms of the new plan for peace in the Gaza Strip presented by US President Joe Biden, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The joint statement of the three countries was distributed by the US State Department, the agency specifies. It emphasizes that the truce project is "the embodiment of the principles" according to which the war in Gaza must end, as Biden put it.
Reuters also informed that in connection with the military conflict between Israel and "Hamas", which began on October 7 last year, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken held a series of telephone conversations with the foreign ministers of the UAE, Qatar and Egypt.
During his phone conversation with Blinken, Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also the country's prime minister, expressed confidence that all mediators hope that the parties to the conflict will reach a positive solution in the spirit of the supported by Biden a proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza. This information is from Qatar State News Agency.
According to the US, Egypt and Qatar, the cessation of fighting in the Strip, accompanied by the release of those held by "Hamas" hostages, will bring "immediate relief to the people of Gaza and to the hostages themselves and their families".
In the words of American President Biden, referred to by the mediating countries, the truce will lead to a "better tomorrow" without "Hamas" in power in the enclave. The US head of state announced yesterday that Israel's new proposal includes a six-month ceasefire as a start and a partial withdrawal of its troops from Gaza.