Smotrich says Netanyahu vowed Israel to pursue ‘gradual takeover’ of entire Gaza Strip

In a statement condemning the “terrible” ceasefire deal with Hamas, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declares that he will “not sit in a government that, God forbid, will stop the war and not continue until complete victory over Hamas.”

While he says that he is happy that some of the hostages will return home, Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, warns that “a difficult task awaits us immediately afterward, to return and fight until victory.”

Despite having voted against the hostage agreement, Smotrich and his far-right Religious Zionism party are remaining in the government after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly agreed to a number of his demands.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to prevent this dangerous deal, but we insisted and were able to ensure, through a government decision, in the cabinet, and other ways, that the war would not end in any way, without achieving its full goals, foremost among them the complete destruction of Hamas in Gaza,” he declares, even though the multiphase hostage-ceasefire agreement approved by the government overnight ends with a permanent ceasefire.

“We demanded and received a commitment to completely change the method of war,” including “through a gradual takeover of the entire Gaza Strip, the lifting of the restrictions imposed on us by the Biden administration, and full control of the Strip, so that humanitarian aid will not reach Hamas as it has been until now,” Smotrich says, declaring “there is no other way to achieve the goals of the war.”