Israeli far-right ministers want to block hostage deal, framing it as "surrender" to Hamas

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a rebellious far-right Israeli minister, has called on another far-right coalition partner to join forces and scupper the Israel-Hamas hostage release agreement by quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Ben-Gvir also asserted that these far-right coalition parties had used their political leverage to thwart a similar deal “time after time” over the past year, causing an uproar, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.

Critics of Netanyahu’s government, including many of the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, have repeatedly accused the prime minister of sabotaging past efforts to reach a deal in order to preserve his coalition — the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history — and remain in power.

Netanyahu and his loyalists have blamed Hamas for past failures to reach a deal. The current agreement was expected to gain government approval even without the support of the two far-right parties, since a majority of cabinet members are in favor of it.

But the fracas caused by Ben Gvir’s comments underscored the resurgent fissures in Israeli politics and society following the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which prompted the war, and the widening fault lines within the Israeli government.

Another far-right cabinet member, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, called the agreement “bad and dangerous to Israel’s national security” and said he absolutely opposed it. But he did not explicitly threaten to leave the government.

Describing the emerging deal as an Israeli “surrender” to Hamas, Ben-Gvir played on Israeli emotions in his statement, saying that the terms of the agreement would erase the achievements of the war in Gaza that were gained with the blood of Israeli soldiers.

Notably, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement set to commence on Sunday, January 19, 2025, effectively ending 15 months of conflict in Gaza. The deal includes the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The first phase of the agreement involves the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, and elderly individuals, over the initial 42 days of the ceasefire. In return, Israel will release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The agreement also outlines the withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas of Gaza and the provision of humanitarian aid to the region. The deal was facilitated through negotiations involving Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 individuals to Gaza as hostages. In response, Israel launched a military offensive to eliminate Hamas. According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, more than 46,500 people have been killed during the war. Israel reports that 94 of its citizens remain in Gaza, including 34 presumed dead, alongside four other Israelis abducted before the war, two of whom are also presumed dead.

By Khagan Isayev