Ahmed Asmar
19 January 2025•Update: 20 January 2025
ANKARA
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened Sunday to overthrow the government if it did not occupy the Gaza Strip.
The extremist minister called a Gaza ceasefire agreement a “very serious mistake” and “surrender to Hamas.”
The Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect at 11.15 a.m. local time (0915GMT) on Sunday after a few hours’ delay due to Israeli accusations for Hamas of delaying the release of a list of captives set to be released. It was originally scheduled to start on 8.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT).
Israel “must occupy Gaza and create a temporary military government because there is no other way to defeat Hamas,” Smotrich told Army Radio.
“I will overthrow the government if it does not return to fighting in a way that [leads to us] taking over the entire Gaza Strip and governing it.”
Earlier, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced his party's withdrawal from the ruling coalition after the Gaza ceasefire.
After Ben-Gvir's party withdrawal, the ruling coalition still survives with 62 parliamentary seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
On Saturday, 24 ministers in the government approved the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement while eight rejected it.
Nearly 47,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 110,700 others injured in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli war on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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.
