Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Sunday against accepting Hamas’s demands for ending the war in Gaza in exchange for the remaining hostages being held by the terrorist group.
“This bright red line must not be crossed. We will not attempt to take political steps as part of a deal to release hostages,” tweeted Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism Party.
The party has vowed to pull out of the coalition unless the fight to dismantle Hamas is resumed after the first phase of the ceasefire, which began on Jan. 19 and ends on March 1. If it does so, and votes against the coalition in the Knesset, the government could fall, triggering early elections.
The ceasefire’s first phase includes the return of 33 hostages by Hamas over a 42-day period in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel, as well as a partial pullout of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and Gaza civilians being allowed to return to the enclave’s north. Sixteen hostages have been released thus far.
In addition to the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase, Hamas is believed to be holding another 65 hostages, whose release is to be negotiated as part of the deal’s second phase.
Hamas is demanding a total pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza in exchange for the remaining hostages. Israel demands that the leadership of Hamas leave Gaza, as well as the dismantling of Hamas’s military presence there and the release of all hostages, according to Ynet. The Israeli Cabinet is scheduled to vote on Tuesday regarding Israel’s demands for the second-phase talks, according to the report.
“The State of Israel has never made policy decisions as a surrender to kidnappings and it will not do so now,” Smotrich wrote on Sunday. Hamas is demanding “an end to the war, the IDF’s withdrawal from the Strip, the reconstruction of the Strip, and Hamas remaining in power, in complete contradiction to the goals of the war,” he added.
If Jerusalem meets its demands, “the terrorist organizations will kidnap more Israelis and demand an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, the evacuation of settlements and the establishment of a Palestinian state in exchange for their release,” he warned.
“The reckless media in Israel will brainwash you without you noticing, just as it has been doing for over a year” to accept those terms, as well, he added.
