Smotrich has a vocally supported the continuation of Israel’s military onslaught of Gaza since the war began [Getty/file photo]
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday vowed to oppose any deal to end the Gaza war, while a senior Palestinian official said “significant progress” had been made in negotiations in Doha.
Since early January, indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed in Doha to strike a ceasefire deal that would also see the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captives held in Gaza.
“The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel’s national security,” Smotrich said on X. “We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many hostages still in captivity.
“Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip,” he continued.
“We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid to prevent its exploitation by Hamas, and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally and all hostages are safely returned.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar meanwhile said that Israel was “working hard” to reach a deal that would facilitate the release of the captives.
At a joint press conference with his visiting Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Jerusalem on Monday, Sa’ar said: “There has been progress in the negotiations for the release of the hostages.”
“Israel really wants to release the hostages and is working hard to secure a deal.”
Anger of hostage families
Angry members of some of the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza harangued Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday over his opposition to a deal being negotiated in Qatar to halt the fighting and bring their relatives home.
Dozens of members of the hostage families, many carrying photographs of the missing, squeezed into a committee room in the Israeli parliament where a meeting of the finance committee was held to examine the 2025 budget.
Some furious, some crying and pleading, they attacked Smotrich in an emotionally charged encounter that lasted for more than an hour, accusing him of abandoning the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages still left in Gaza.
“These kidnapped people can be returned,” Ofir Angrest, whose brother Matan was taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The conditions are ripe, it’s time for a deal, the Prime Minister said it. How can you, the Minister of Finance, oppose the return of all these abductees?”.
‘Significant progress’Â
A senior Palestinian official close to Hamas said “significant progress” had been made in negotiations for a deal.
“The current round of negotiations is the most serious and deep and has made significant progress,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
He said the draft agreement was being finalised to work out the details of how many hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Discussions are also underway regarding the volume of humanitarian aid to be delivered Gaza, he added.
Smotrich, an far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza, and has publicly advocated for the continuation of the war, and settlements of Israelis in Gaza.
His comments came amid rising calls by families of hostages still held in Gaza, to reach an accord that would bring home their loved ones.Â
Smotrich’s remarks underline the sharp divides in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition over a deal.
Netanyahu could nonetheless muster enough support to pass the deal through his cabinet, even without Smotrich’s support.
On Sunday, Netanyahu briefed outgoing US President Joe Biden on the “progress in negotiations” in Doha.
“The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations for the release of our hostages and updated him on the mandate he has given to the negotiating team in Doha, aimed at advancing the release of the hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Successive rounds of negotiations held last year repeatedly failed to produce a deal.
Gaza strikesÂ
Among the key sticking points in the talks have been disagreements over a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.
Other aspects hindering the deal include the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory and the reopening of border crossings.
Netanyahu has continuously rejected a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and remains opposed to any Palestinian governance of the territory.
Even as negotiations continued in Doha, Israeli forces continued to pound Gaza on Monday.
Four people were killed and several injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in a central area of Gaza City, the territory’s civil defence agency reported.
Two people were killed and several injured in Israeli shelling targeting a group of people in Gaza City, according to Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry. Thousand more are feared buried under rubble.