Security cabinet ministers deny ceasefire reports

Ministers in the security cabinet said Wednesday that they were not aware of an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement between Israel and militant groups operating out of the Gaza Strip.

“We haven’t reached an agreement with Hamas, not even an informal agreement,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) said outside a school he visited in kibbutz Kfar Aza. “We will act according to Israel’s interests. What the other side decides will determine its fate.”

Bennett slept at the home of a family on the kibbutz, located near the Gaza border, in order to show solidarity with residents. He said he was woken up by sirens five or six times throughout the night and went to a shelter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the security cabinet Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday night so as not to convey a message that Israel was interested in an escalation. He did, however, meet with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) and Intelligence Services Minister Israel Katz (Likud).

“Everything will depend on Hamas,” Katz said in an interview with Israel Radio, in which he denied that Israel had reached a cease-fire agreement.

But Energy, Water and National Infrastructures Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) appeared to confirm that there was a cease-fire in an Israel Radio interview.

“I estimate that there are indirect understandings with Hamas to end the current round of violence,” he said. “I thinks a certain level of conflict on the Gaza border will remain, but I hope that there will not be a need for a full military operation to capture Gaza.”

Interior Minister Arye Deri (Shas) said Israel is not interested in an escalation in the south, and he did not believe Hamas was either.

“Hamas was dragged into this by rebel groups,” he told Army Radio. “If there is quiet from them, there will also be quiet from us. We have given time to prove that they can return the situation to normal. If they decide to let things get out of control, there will be a very painful blow. There is a good chance quiet will return after the blow the IDF dealt them.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) took to Twitter to warn the heads of terror groups in Gaza that Israel could renew past policies of targeted killings if the violence did not stop.

“Just as we have shown that we will do what it takes to prevent Iran’s terror proxies from threatening our northern border, we will do what it takes to prevent Iran’s proxies from threatening our southern border,” Erdan wrote. “Leaders of Islamic Jihad and Hamas: You have been forewarned.”

Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay warned that ministers could escalate violence with strong statements. He blamed 2014’s Operation Protective Edge on statements made by Bennett and then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman.