Israel’s Smotrich Doubles Down on Opposition to Gaza Deal

Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel needs a “big deal that does not include surrender to Hamas” in Gaza.

“I believe that surrender deals that harm the great war achievements, harm us,” the leader of the ultranationalist Religious Zionist Party told Israeli radio station 103fm about the war on Gaza.

“Releasing terrorists with blood-stained hands is actually rebuilding Hamas leadership,” he claimed, in reference to Palestinian prisoners who could be released as part of a captive exchange deal.

Israeli Democrats Party leader Yair Golan also agreed that “we should not accept a small deal” but said the state should not give up on retrieving all the captives held in Gaza.

“We should go for a deal where everyone is released and build an alternative to Hamas,” he was quoted as saying by Israeli Army Radio.

Last week, Smotrich also told the Haredi radio station Kol Barama that “Hamas is at its lowest point since the beginning of the war, and this is not the time to give it a lifeline.”

The minister said without providing details that the deal would not serve the interests of Israel or return the captives “because in the end it’s a partial deal”.

His remarks come as efforts for an agreement have been renewed in the past weeks.

Officials on all sides have cautioned that key details must still be worked out. But there is a general sense of optimism that has been lacking for many months.

Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have issued several threats whenever a deal is close. The two far-right ministers have threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza ceasefire proposal.