Israel must officially declare its withdrawal from talks to resume the humanitarian truce in Gaza, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Friday afternoon, arguing that the IDF cannot be fighting a “semi-war.”
Speaking following a phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Smotrich said he called on the prime minister to “cease all contact with the Nazi enemy,” Hamas, and mediators such as Egypt and Qatar.
“We cannot allow for a scenario in which the IDF is fighting a ‘semi-war,’ wary of a potential sudden halt to operations due to Hamas manipulations to reinstate a truce, putting an end to the IDF’s activities to eliminate it,” the finance minister warned.
Smotrich, who initially called to vote against the hostage deal with Hamas, later voted for it in a cabinet meeting last week. The finance minister argued that, despite his “delight for the hostages who have returned home, the humanitarian truce has exhausted itself.
No appeasing Sinwar
“The Nazi enemy continues to commit war crimes on civilians and hostages,” Smotrich added. “Agreeing to another halt would be a terrible mistake which conveys weakness, we cannot be played with by Yahya Sinwar.”
He followed this up by saying that “the enemy must be looked at only through the intentions and activity of the fighter planes, artillery, and ground entry.”
Smotrich called on the government to officially announce the end of the truce and do so “explicitly and publicly,” calling for a return to full fighting until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned. The Israeli minister has regularly called for the return to hostilities and a return to active combat, decrying attempts and diplomacy, putting little trust in Egypt and Qatar.
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