Israel’s Ben-Gvir threatens again to topple government over Gaza cease-fire proposal

JERUSALEM

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir renewed his threats on Monday to dismantle the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza cease-fire proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters at the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), Ben-Gvir said if Netanyahu signs “a reckless deal that will bring an end to the war without the collapse of Hamas, Otzma Yehudit [his party] will dissolve the government.”

The extremist minister said he was told by Netanyahu that the actual proposal differs from the one announced by Biden.

“There will be no reckless deal and an end to the war without the collapse of Hamas,” he said, adding that Netanyahu’s office refused to show him the draft deal.

Netanyahu said early Monday that he was “not ready to stop the war” on the Gaza Strip, claiming that Biden’s remarks about the cease-fire proposal were “inaccurate.”

On Friday, Biden said Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave.

The US president called on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas to accept the proposal and urged Netanyahu to resist pressure from members of his governing coalition to reject the plan.

However, Netanyahu’s office reiterated on Friday that the government intends to continue its deadly offensive on Gaza until all of Tel Aviv’s war “goals” are met.

Hamas, for its part, said it will “respond positively to any proposal that includes a permanent cease-fire, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction efforts, the return of the displaced, and the completion of a comprehensive hostage exchange deal.”

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

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