Ben Gvir, Smotrich said demanding guarantee that war can resume if Hamas won’t disarm

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leeway to facilitate the implementation of the first phase of Washington’s proposal for ending the war in Gaza, while demanding assurances that Israel can continue to fight Hamas, if the terror group does not disarm in the second phase, Channel 12 reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.

In the first stage of US President Donald Trump’s proposal, set to be negotiated over in Egypt tomorrow, all the hostages would be released and the IDF would redeploy to positions that allow it to continue to oversee Gaza, while the second phase would see Hamas disarm and Gaza demilitarized.

In a meeting with the premier yesterday, the far-right ministers focused on the second phase of the deal, seeking “explicit guarantees” from Netanyahu that Israel would be able to resume fighting Hamas if the terror group does not disarm, according to the Hebrew network.

Netanyahu reportedly gave the ministers the impression that if Hamas does not disarm, Israel will be able to act —- though such a guarantee does not appear anywhere in the US proposal’s current 20 points.

According to anonymous sources, Ben Gvir and Smotrich left the meeting feeling Netanyahu had not provided sufficient assurances on the issue, but decided that, for the time being, they would give the premier more time to carry out the arrangement while warning that they would not tolerate Hamas restoring its capabilities in Gaza.

Ahead of yesterday’s meeting, Ben Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit party, said that his faction will leave the government if Hamas “continues to exist” after the return of the hostages held in Gaza.