JERUSALEM: An Israeli far-right minister stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (Sep 4) to end negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire aimed at securing the release of hostages.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called for an end to indirect talks with Hamas, which Israel has accused of executing six hostages whose bodies were found in a Gaza tunnel last week.
“A country whose six hostages are murdered in cold blood does not negotiate with the killers, but ends the talks, stops the transfer of fuel and electricity, and crushes them until they collapse,” Ben Gvir wrote on the social media platform X.
Ben Gvir, along with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are key members of Netanyahu’s coalition government and have steadfastly opposed ceasefire talks, insisting that continuing the war in Gaza is the only way to destroy Hamas.
Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas have been held for months through mediators between the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but so far there has been no breakthrough.
The United States said on Tuesday it was time to “finalise” a deal to end the war that would help free the hostages in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Washington would work “over the coming days” with other mediators “to push for a final agreement”, said US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
“It is time to finalise that deal,” Miller said.
But Netanyahu has refused to offer any “concessions” in these negotiations, despite mounting domestic and international pressure following the recovery of the six dead hostages.
One key sticking point has been Netanyahu’s insistence that Israeli troops remain at the border between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
But Miller said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to withdraw forces from the border area.
“The bridging proposal that we put forward, that the government of Israel agreed to, it did include the removal of the IDF (Israeli military) from densely populated areas. That includes the Philadelphi Corridor,” Miller said, referring to Israeli forces.
“We are opposed to the long-term presence of IDF troops in Gaza,” he said.
Hamas has insisted that it wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza for any deal to take place.
During the Oct 7 attack on Israel, Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
The attack itself resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages killed in captivity, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,819 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.