Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (far right) said today that he would resign if the government adopts what he called an "irresponsible" ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
"If this irresponsible agreement is approved and implemented, the Jewish Force party will no longer be part of the government," Ben Gvir said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
However, he added that the party under his leadership will not topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will not act with the left against the government.
"To release the hostages, humanitarian aid sent to Gaza must be completely stopped. Only under this condition will Hamas release our hostages without endangering Israel's security," he said.
After more than 15 months of war that has devastated the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government is set to meet tomorrow to vote on a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, reached through Qatari mediation with the help of the US and Egypt.
The three-phase agreement envisages, in the first phase, the release of 33 hostages taken during the Hamas attack that triggered the war on October 7, 2023, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israel.
"If the war against Hamas continues strongly with the aim of achieving the goals of the war that were not achieved, we will return to the government," Ben Gvir said. He called on Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also from the far right and an opponent of the agreement, to join him in leaving the government.
Smotrich's party announced today that it expects to remain in the government during the first phase of the agreement, but that it will leave it if the war does not continue after those 42 days.
Yet Netanyahu is confident that he will have a majority of votes within his cabinet for a ceasefire agreement.
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An Israeli government spokesman said today that the cabinet will not meet until the Palestinian movement Hamas accepts the terms of a ceasefire agreement.
David Menser reiterated the Israeli government's position that Hamas is violating the agreement, which, he said, has created a "last-minute crisis."
"The Israeli government will not convene until the negotiators inform it that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement that were previously agreed upon," Menser stressed.
More than 80 people have been killed in the past 24 hours in Israeli attacks on Gaza since the announcement of a ceasefire deal, the Hamas-run Civil Defense reported today.
According to announcements, the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel is set to come into effect on Sunday, January 19. However, it needs to be approved by the Israeli government.
Hamas, which the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist organization, said it rejected the claims of the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A statement published by Reuters, Palestinian media, and Izzat al-Rishk from the organization's political office said that "Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by the mediators in the negotiations."
The agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
It includes three phases, with the final phase focused on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
The conflict erupted in October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked settlements in southern Israel, killing, according to Israeli figures, about 1.200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.
Israel responded by launching a devastating offensive on the Palestinian enclave in which, according to health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza, 46.788 people were killed, 110.453 were wounded, and the majority of the population was displaced.
US President Joseph Biden said that "this deal will stop the fighting in Gaza, increase much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity."
While, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the details of the agreement are still being worked out, US President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed the deal.
(Radio Slobodna Evropa, Ne.V.)
The Israeli Health Ministry today announced a protocol for hospital admissions of hostages expected to return from Gaza under the ceasefire agreement, although Israel has not yet approved it.
This protocol is very different from that used during the previous release of hostages from Gaza in November 2023, Israeli media reported.
Six hospitals have been designated for the initial return of hostages, and it is recommended that they remain there for at least four days.
Dr. Hagar Mizrahim, head of the ministry's general medicine department, said that hostages who were then released from hospitals regretted staying for shorter periods than recommended.
The released hostages will be tested for sexually transmitted diseases and the women for pregnancy.
There is concern about binge eating syndrome, which occurs when people who have been starving consume food too quickly when it becomes available.
The ministry also warned families not to post messages and photos from hospitals on social media, so as not to disrupt the recovery process of those released from Hamas captivity.
In addition, it was announced that forensic evidence of the crimes suffered would be documented and collected.
In an attack by Palestinian extremists on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, around 1.200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and more than 250 hostages were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
About 100 of them are still detained, but according to military data, a third are no longer alive.
The Hebrew-language news website Ynet reported today that the families of hostages held in Gaza have not been informed why approval of a ceasefire agreement in the war with Hamas has been delayed.
"There was no briefing, just general messages from the administration that Hamas caused the delay. In my opinion, it's because of problems in our coalition," said Ora Rubinstein, a relative of hostage Bar Kuperstein.
She added that the families of the hostages do not know what will happen, they have not been told anything and that informing them is at the bottom of the priority list.
"I heard that Smotrich (Bezalel, Minister of Finance, ultra-rightist) said that he was only interested in the first phase (of the agreement) and then renewing the war. What kind of war? The one in which soldiers are killed?" said Rubinstein.
Her cousin was a staff member of the Nova music festival who was kidnapped and taken to Gaza in an attack by Palestinian extremists led by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israeli media reports that Minister Smotrich's ultra-right Religious Zionism party has announced that it will remain in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition with guarantees that Israel will return to the fight against Hamas after the hostages are released.
Around 100 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, but according to information from the Israeli military, a third are no longer alive.
Netanyahu today accused the Palestinian Hamas of "creating a last-minute crisis" and thereby delaying Israel's approval of a long-awaited ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages.
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At least 73 people, including 20 children, have been killed in Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since yesterday, when it was announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached and was set to take effect on Sunday, according to new data from the Civil Defense in the Palestinian territory.
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said today that the Israeli army "strongly intensified its bombings," in which 230 people were wounded.
"Since the ceasefire agreement was announced, Israeli occupation forces have killed 73 people, including 20 children and 25 women," the spokesman said.
The targets are mainly Gaza City and Khan Younis, in the south of the territory, and according to the spokesman, the bombings are continuing.
It was announced in Doha last night that a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas.
The agreement, which is set to come into effect on Sunday, January 19, calls for Hamas to release Israeli hostages, release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Russia hopes for a "lasting stabilization of the situation" in the Gaza Strip, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said today, a day after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
"We hope that the implementation of the concluded agreement will contribute to the lasting stabilization of the situation in Gaza and create conditions for the return of all temporarily displaced persons," Zakharova said at a press conference on Sunday.
Last night it was announced that a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Israel and Hamas.
The agreement is scheduled to enter into force on Sunday, January 19th.
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The Lebanese National News Agency reports Israeli machine gun fire and tank movement in Maroun al-Ras, in the south of the country.
In November 2024, Israel and Lebanon reached a ceasefire agreement that included the gradual withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Lebanon within 60 days, after they invaded in October 2024.
The municipality of Maroun al-Ras is located near the UN-drawn Blue Line, which has separated Lebanon and Israel since 2000.
Israeli media reports that the far-right Religious Zionist party has said it will remain in Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government only if the prime minister agrees to "return Israel to war to destroy Hamas" after the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement.
The Times of Israel reports that it has learned that "Mossad chief David Barnea and the Israeli negotiating team are still in Doha, where they are finalizing the details of the ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement."
Benjamin Netanyahu's office earlier issued a statement saying that it would not convene a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet to approve the agreement with Hamas until the negotiating team returns from Qatar.
Health authorities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have released updated figures on the conflict's casualties. According to a Reuters report, at least 46.788 Palestinians have been killed and 110.453 wounded during the Israeli military offensive.
In the last 24 hours, 81 people have been killed and 188 injured.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 70 people in Gaza overnight and today, Reuters reported, according to residents and authorities in the territory.
The attack came hours after a possible ceasefire and hostage exchange deal was announced, aimed at ending the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas, which has devastated the Gaza Strip and caused a humanitarian crisis.
The agreement has not yet been formally agreed upon, as the Israeli security cabinet postponed a meeting scheduled for this morning.
"Hamas is abandoning parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an attempt to force last-minute concessions. The Israeli cabinet will not meet until the mediators inform Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," Netanyahu's office said.
Hamas said it remained committed to the ceasefire agreement brokered by mediators on Wednesday. Reuters quoted a senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Rashiq, as confirming the statement this morning.
Protests against the agreement were held in Jerusalem this morning. Families of Israeli soldiers killed in the conflict placed makeshift coffins draped in Israeli flags in the street.

The Israeli military said that ten soldiers were injured yesterday "due to a weapons explosion during military training in southern Israel."
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have made at least 22 arrests in the occupied West Bank since last night.
Hamas said it remained committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday.
Reuters reports a statement from a senior Hamas official, Izzat al-Reshiq, who confirmed this minutes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that a planned meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, which was supposed to approve the agreement, had been canceled.
Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of withdrawing from "parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel, in an attempt to force concessions at the last minute."
Under the terms of the agreement, the first group of 33 hostages is set to be released on Sunday in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and the wounded in Gaza will be allowed to leave the territory for medical treatment.
Israel's security cabinet has postponed a planned meeting that was supposed to approve a ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement with Hamas in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of trying to obtain "last-minute concessions" regarding certain aspects of the agreement.
"Hamas is withdrawing from parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel, in an attempt to force last-minute concessions. The Israeli cabinet will not meet until the mediators inform Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement," the statement said, as reported by Reuters.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 11 a.m. local time, was postponed because, according to the Jerusalem Post, "the delegation in charge of the hostage agreement did not complete its work in Qatar and returned to Israel."
"When the delegation returns, the security committee will meet," it added.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that MK Zvi Sukkot, who represents the Religious Zionism party led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, said there was a "high probability" that the party would leave Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government if the deal with Hamas is approved.
"If the agreement leads to a halt to the war without achieving its goals, there is no point in continuing our partnership in government. We are in talks with the Prime Minister to secure guarantees that the war will continue."
"There is nothing we can accept, not budgets or positions, not even a move in the West Bank where we are dismantling the Palestinian state, that would outweigh this issue," he said.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that 25 people have been killed in Israeli strikes inside Gaza since dawn, the Guardian reports.
Tarek Abu Azum, reporting from Deir al-Balah for Al Jazeera, described the situation on the ground as "a mixture of cautious relief, hope and enduring sadness".
"The Palestinians understand that the agreement will come into force on Sunday. This means that we face another 72 hours of airstrikes and escalation. Since the early hours of the morning, we have seen Israeli drones and fighter jets breaking the sound barrier and producing sonic booms that have terrified everyone on the ground. Civilians remain absolutely terrified of the possible escalation of the attacks in the Gaza Strip," he said.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has hailed a ceasefire agreement in Gaza between Israel and the militant group Hamas as a "victory" for the Palestinians and a "defeat" for Israel, AFP reports.
"Ending the war and imposing a ceasefire ... is a clear victory and a great victory for Palestine, and a greater defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime," the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement.
Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović assessed that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was excellent news, and said that Montenegro would continue to support comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution.
Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Filip Ivanović welcomed the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, emphasizing that it is a significant step towards creating conditions for lasting peace.
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