Israel: Ben-Gvir threatens to resign from gov’t if attacks on Gaza stop after the truce

Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, yesterday announced that he would resign from the government if the attacks on the Gaza Strip are not resumed after the end of the expected humanitarian truce.

 Ben-Gvir made the remarks during an interview with the right-wing Israeli Channel 14, hours before the prisoner exchange deal between the occupying state and Hamas entered into force.

The head of the Jewish Power Party said: “We heard the prime minister say it frankly, that the fighting will resume, but if the war stops, we will have nothing to do in the government.”

Ben-Gvir and two other ministers from his party were the only ones who voted against the prisoner exchange agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to continue the attack on Gaza until “we have achieved complete victory … Eliminating Hamas, liberating our captives and making sure that post-Hamas there will be no threat to Israel.”

Yesterday, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that a humanitarian truce agreement had been reached in the Gaza Strip between the occupation and Hamas, through joint mediation with Egypt and the US.

The Qatari Ministry said that the agreement includes the exchange of 50 Israeli prisoners of war, including women and children, currently held in the Gaza Strip during the first stage in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, adding that the number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a press statement on Thursday, “Work is continuing with the two parties and our partners in Cairo and Washington to ensure the rapid start of the truce.”

An Israeli official has, however, said no prisoners would be released until tomorrow, at the earliest.

READ: Israel’s Ben-Gvir: Truce deal in Gaza a ‘dangerous precedent’