Open Editor's Digest for free
Rula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Saturday that he will withdraw from Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government in protest against the ceasefire and hostage release agreement he concluded with Hamas.
The Israeli government approved the multi-stage agreement — which will halt the 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and pave the way for the release of the 98 hostages still held there — early Saturday.
But some far-right members of the government voted against the agreement, and Ben Gvir later said he would follow through on his previous threat to leave the government on Sunday, when the six-week first phase of the agreement – which he described as “terrible” – is due to begin.
Despite the departure of Ben Gvir's Jewish Power party, Netanyahu's coalition will retain a slim two-seat majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament, because his ultra-nationalist ally Bezalel Smotrich – Israel's finance minister – appears poised to remain in government.
Earlier this week, Smotrich threatened to withdraw from the government if Israel did not resume the war when the first phase of the deal – during which Hamas is set to release 33 hostages in exchange for the release of 1,900 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons – expires in six weeks.
He repeated that threat on Saturday but said Netanyahu had pledged to make changes to the conduct of the war and aimed to “gradually control the entire Gaza Strip.”
He said in a statement on the Telegram application: “Look at Gaza, it is destroyed and uninhabitable, and it will remain that way.” “Do not be moved by the forced joy of our enemy… and very soon we will once again wipe out their smiles and replace them with the cries of grief and the sighs of those who have nothing left.”
In a brief, pre-recorded speech published on Saturday evening, Netanyahu said that the administrations of outgoing US President Joe Biden and his successor Donald Trump support Israel's right to resume the war if talks on the details of the second phase fail.
“If we have to go back to fighting, we will do it in new ways, and we will do it with great force,” Netanyahu said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that the ceasefire would come into effect at 8.30 am local time (6.30 am GMT) on Sunday. Later that day, Hamas is expected to release three hostages, while Israel will release 95 Palestinian prisoners in the first exchange under the agreement.
However, in an indication of the fragility of the arrangements, Netanyahu said on Saturday evening that Israel would not move forward with the deal until Hamas provided it with a list of the names of the hostages who would be released. He added that Israel will not tolerate violation of the agreement.
If the deal goes through as planned, negotiations on the details of the second phase will begin by the 16th day of the first phase. During this time the remaining living hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent cessation of the war.
The third and final phase will include returning the bodies of the hostages who were killed and beginning the reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.
