Zein Khalil and Ikram Kouachi
March 02, 2025•Update: March 02, 2025
JERUSALEM
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called for “opening the gates of hell” on the Gaza Strip after a government decision to halt humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli government stopped the entry of humanitarian aid into the war-torn territory on Sunday, just hours after the expiry of the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal.
“The decision we made last night to completely halt humanitarian aid to Gaza until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned is an important step in the right direction,” Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionism Party, said in a statement.
Describing the move as the “threshold of the gates of hell,” he added: "Now we need to open those gates as quickly and lethally as possible on the cruel enemy, until absolute victory."
The first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on Jan. 19, officially ended at midnight on Saturday. However, Israel has not agreed to move forward to the second phase of the deal to bring an end to the war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sought to extend the initial exchange phase to secure the release of as many Israeli captives as possible without offering anything in return or fulfilling the military and humanitarian obligations of the agreement.
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has refused to proceed under these conditions, insisting that Israel abide by the terms of the ceasefire and immediately start negotiations for the second phase, which includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete halt to the war.
The ceasefire agreement has halted Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began Oct. 7, 2023 and has since killed more than 48,380 victims, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
