Smotrich demands Netanyahu forbid Israel’s delegation from departing for Qatar truce talks

Finance Minister and Religious Zionism party head Bezalel Smotrich calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forbid the departure of Israel’s negotiating team to hostage deal talks in Qatar, claiming he was proven right when he opposed previous, unsuccessful attempts to find a deal through talks in Paris and Qatar.

“The delusional Hamas stance shows that the supporters of the deal in the war cabinet and security establishments have lost their way,” the ultranationalist lawmaker writes on X of the Gaza terror group’s recent response to the proposed hostage deal outline in which they demanded the release of as many as 1,000 security prisoners.

“Netanyahu must order the delegation to remain in Israel and the IDF to enter Rafah immediately and increase the military pressure until Hamas is destroyed,” he continues. “Only in this will it make it possible to return the hostages.”