Posted on 04/28/24
| News Source: i24
Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday, amid ongoing negotiations with Hamas, issued a statement directed to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning him against canceling the Rafah operation, the international community has been strongly opposed to.
"Agreeing to the Egyptian deal is a humiliating surrender, and it grants victory to the Nazis on the backs of the hundreds of heroic IDF soldiers who fell in battle, it imposes a death sentence on the abductees who are not included in the deal, and above all - constitutes an immediate existential danger to the State of Israel," said Smotrich.
"If you decide to wave a white flag and cancel the order to occupy Rafah immediately in order to complete the mission of destroying Hamas, restore security to the residents of the south and to the citizens of Israel and return all our hostages brothers and sisters to their homes - the government headed by you will have no right to exist," added the minister.
Meanwhile, the opposition leader Yair Lapid on Saturday stated that he is ready to step up and save the government. In his post on X (formerly Twitter), he highlighted the urgency of hostages' return: "Netanyahu, you have the majority of Israel supporting the deal, you have the majority in the Knesset for the deal and if necessary, fire [Minister of National Security of Israel Itamat] Ben Gvir and Smotrich. We must bring them home."
An Israeli source confirmed to i24NEWS that Israeli delegation has presented Hamas with an offer that includes "very large concessions" and expects to receive the answer from the group's officials within the next 48 hours.
Earlier on Thursday, Smotrich issued a warning saying that if the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues with its efforts for international recognition of a Palestinian state and for what he said was its bid to obtain international arrest warrants against Israeli officials over the war in Gaza, his ministry will cut off the transfer of funds to the Palestinian administrative body.