An ultranationalist partner warns Netanyahu to leave the Government if he approves the truce

Once the last-minute disagreements with Hamas have been resolved, Israel plans to approve this Friday the truce agreement for the return of the kidnapped people after a dramatic day in which not only the ceasefire in Gaza but also the stability of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Itamar Ben Gvir, minister and leader of an ultranationalist party, warned tonight that he will leave the coalition if it approves the agreement and will return only if it resumes the offensive to end the Islamist group.

Netanyahu’s statement in the morning accusing Hamas of creating a “last-minute crisis that prevents the agreement” raised a disturbing question that traveled through the region until reaching the White House: Unexpected crisis that delays and may even prevent the announced truce? solemnly for Joe Biden y Donald Trump Or is it an expected negotiating struggle that simply postpones the Israeli cabinet meeting for a few hours to approve it? The answer came in the afternoon when the parties confirmed that they had resolved in Doha the last obstacles on the way to ending more than 15 months of war that this Thursday recorded another date with attacks and deaths.

In this way, the Security Cabinet plans to meet this Friday to approve the pact reached with the American-Egyptian-Qatari mediation aware that the ceasefire would be accompanied by ups and downs but not that it would happen before starting, as planned, this Sunday. Israel had accused Hamas of having backtracked on “parts of the agreement reached with mediators and Israel in an extortion attempt to achieve last minute concessions“Israel will convene the Cabinet and Government meeting when the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement,” said the statement from the prime minister’s office in a decision that raised alarms and concerns in Gaza and among the families of 98 hostages alive and dead in captivity. Among them, 94 of the 251 kidnapped in the terrorist attack in southern Israel that unleashed an unprecedented offensive in the Palestinian enclave, shaking the region from Lebanon to Yemen.

Hamas rejected the accusations, emphasizing, in the words of one of its senior officials, Izzat el Reshiqwhich “is committed to the ceasefire announced by the mediators.” The Islamist leader Monk Abu ZuhriFor his part, he denounced that Netanyahu’s claims “have no basis.” In an interview with Al ArabiHe added that “the Trump Administration is committed to forcing Israel to comply with the agreement.” Media related to Hamas accused Netanyahu of creating a crisis for internal political reasons.

In exchange for the return of the hostages, of which 33 in the first phase of the truce extended in six weeks, Israel agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw from the areas in the Gaza Strip that it has occupied since the operation. on a large scale launched in response to the armed attack of 7-O. The last-minute discrepancy that reactivated cooperation between Biden and Trump’s emissaries in the area, Brett McGurk y Steve Witkoff respectively revolved around the identity of some Palestinian prisoners, as was slipped into Netanyahu’s early morning statement after speaking with his negotiating team in Doha: “Contrary to an express clause that grants Israel the right to veto over the release of mass murderers who are symbols of terrorism, Hamas demands to determine the identity of these terrorists.

But the public announcement by Biden and Trump, the latter’s telephone conversation with Netanyahu and the success of the negotiation proclaimed by the mediators in Doha made it virtually impossible for the agreement to collapse once again.

Netanyahu is also trying to avoid the collapse of his Government by maintaining the two ultra-nationalist parties in the coalition (out of a total of five parties), opposed to the truce. The vast majority in Israel and in the Cabinet supports the agreement for the return of those kidnapped after 468 days in captivity which, however, is criticized in the core of the right since it allows Hamas to continue, although badly hit, as an armed and perhaps governing force in Gaza. “The agreement includes the release of hundreds of murderous prisonersthe return of Palestinians to northern Gaza including terrorists, the withdrawal of the Philadelphia Axis and will lead to the end of the war without Hamas having been completely defeated or guaranteeing that all those kidnapped will return,” announced Ben Gvir, known for his extremism and media provocations. In any case, he clarified that he will not vote with the opposition to overthrow the Government. that without him still has a majority but a tight one.

In recent days, the leader of the other ultranationalist party, Bezalel Smotrichmet with Netanyahu six times to demand a commitment that he will resume the offensive immediately after the first phase of the cease-fire and maintain the military presence in the Philadelphia Axis, located in front of the Egyptian border in the south of the Gaza Strip. Two demands, however, that contradict the letter and spirit of the agreement as well as the message of Israel’s great ally. And no one in the region, including Netanyahu, wants to start the relationship with Trump on the wrong foot.

Between the demands of Smotrich and Ben Gvir on the one hand and the pressure from the US and the vast majority of the families of the kidnapped in favor of the agreement on the other, Netanyahu is looking for the formula that will allow him to approve it without losing the majority in the Knesset. The opposition led by Yair Lapidwhich criticizes him for not having accepted the ceasefire and return of hostages proposal in June for “reasons of political survival”, maintains its offer of a security network so that he can sign the pact.

While waiting for the truce, the intense Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip continues. While the Ministry of Health under Hamas control indicated that at least 80 Palestinians were killed and almost 200 injured In the bombings since Wednesday night, the army announced that it attacked “approximately 50 terrorist targets, including terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”