Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to quit Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if Hamas isn't "dismantled politically and militarily", and the prime minister doesn’t enact the death penalty against what he called Palestinian "terrorists".
In an interview with Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 on Saturday, Ben-Gvir said: "What I want, and this is also what Netanyahu promised me, is the dismantlement of Hamas, and if he doesn’t dismantle Hamas, he knows very well what will happen."
Ben-Gvir declined to give Netanyahu a deadline to comply with his demands, but he has repeatedly made similar demands throughout the length of the war in Gaza, which he has advocated for ferociously.
The National Security minister said: "Under no circumstances can we agree to a scenario that gives the terrorist organisation that brought the greatest catastrophe in the history of the State of Israel an opportunity to return or rise."
Just last week, Ben-Gvir, alongside fellow far-right minister Bezalel Smotrich, issued the same threat to quit if Hamas "continues to exist" after the Israeli captives are released.
He stressed that his extremist Otzma Yahudit party "will not be part of a national defeat and eternal disgrace", and would "not agree to a situation" in which the Palestinian group could rebuild itself after the end of the war.
Ben-Gvir has been a fierce advocate for the prolonging of the war in Gaza since Israel’s military onslaught began over two years ago, cheering for more Palestinians to be killed, for Gaza to be reoccupied and for the forcible displacement of Palestinians.
The ultra-nationalist minister has been charged multiple times for incitement and racism against Palestinians and has been sanctioned by the European Union for incitement and hate, as well as being issued travel bans as recently as June this year.
Ben-Gvir was among several ministers to vote against the Gaza peace deal’s first phase, which took effect last week.
Ahead of the cabinet meeting which approved the ceasefire deal, Ben-Gvir announced that he would vote against an agreement.
Other ministers to vote against the deal were Smotrich, Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, National Projects Minister Orit Strock and Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu.
The deal entails a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from designated lines, the return of captives and the release of Palestinian detainees, as well as allowing the entry of much-needed aid into the famished and war-torn territory.
In January this year, Ben-Gvir resigned from Netanyahu’s government over his disapproval of a ceasefire deal in Gaza during that period, weakening the Israeli premier’s coalition. His party, however, rejoined he government two months later, in March.