Ben Gvir says Netanyahu making a serious mistake with hostage deal ‘surrender’
Far-right minister calls for cutting aid to Strip, saying it would bring Gazans ‘to their knees’ in two weeks and give Israel ‘total victory’ over Hamas
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Be Gvir denounced the notion of continued talks to reach a hostage and ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza, saying Sunday that it would amount to surrender to the terror group.
In an interview with Radio 103 FM, Ben Gvir also called for cutting off humanitarian aid to the Strip, something Israel’s allies have repeatedly said would cross a red line and cost Israel their support.
His criticism came after last Thursday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli delegation will attend ceasefire-for-hostage talks with Hamas on August 15 to negotiate for the release of hostages abducted by the Palestinian terror group and held in the Gaza Strip for over 10 months. The hostages were taken during a devastating Hamas-led attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and set off the ongoing war in Gaza.
“We are crushing Hamas,” Ben Gvir said, claiming that he has been going into the field to receive briefings from local commanders, in addition to cabinet updates.
“So, now we should go to a conference and surrender?” he asked. “This is a serious mistake by the prime minister.”
“It’s a mistake to sit with Hamas, which raped, murdered, and burned babies — and we are going to surrender to them?” he said referring to atrocities committed by the 3,000 terrorists who attacked Israel.
Ben Gvir reiterated his calls to cut off fuel supply and aid to Gaza.
“If we cut off their fuel, within a week they would be on their knees. And if we stop the [aid] trucks, within two weeks they would be on their knees. So why are we going to do a deal, especially such an irresponsible deal?” he said.
“What nonsense, what a terrible mistake, a massive disaster. We can achieve total victory,” he said.
Last week Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich drew international condemnation for suggesting that starving the entire population of Gaza could be justified in order to secure the release of the hostages held in Gaza.
Ben Gvir and Smotrich lead two far-right parties in the government, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism, respectively. Both ministers have threatened to bring down the government if it accepts a ceasefire deal that ends the war before Israel achieves its declared goal of “destroying” Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
After the war began the government announced a blockade on the Gaza Strip in which no humanitarian aid would be allowed. However, by the end of October, Israel agreed to resume entry of aid at the urging of US President Joe Biden.
Over the past 10 months of war, Israel has repeatedly been accused of not allowing enough aid into the Strip. A number of solutions were attempted, including airdropping aid packages into Gaza and delivering aid by sea via a temporary US-built pier, but ultimately, truckloads of supplies entering via ground crossings were found to be the most effective method.
Israel, meanwhile, has been highlighting its efforts to expand aid to Gaza and blaming the humanitarian crisis on aid agencies failing to properly distribute supplies and on the looting of aid trucks by terror groups and gangs.
Some of the aid is trucked from Jordan through Israel to Gaza. Ben Gvir, who oversees the police force, has been accused of interfering with efforts to stop far-right activists from sabotaging and even destroying some trucks in convoys moving through the country.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
