A senior partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition has joined senior ministers in demanding Israel halt implementation of Gaza deal.
By World Israel News Staff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing pressure from within his own governing coalition to halt implementation of the Gaza peace deal, as lawmakers demand that Hamas abide by the terms of the agreement and return the bodies of all remaining hostages.
Under the terms of the 20-point plan proposed by the Trump administration, Hamas was required to return all 48 hostages – including 20 living and 28 dead – to Israel within 72 hours of the beginning of the Gaza ceasefire, which was declared Friday at 1:00 p.m.
While Hamas returned all of the surviving hostages on Monday, it has only handed over the remains of five slain hostages thus far.
After Hamas handed over the remains of two hostages Wednesday night, a spokesman for the terror group hinted that no additional bodies would likely be returned in the immediate future, claiming that the terror group had fulfilled its obligations under the deal by returning all living hostages, and adding that it was encountering difficulties in locating the remains of other slain hostages.
“The resistance [Hamas] has adhered to what was agreed upon and has handed over all the living captives it held, as well as the bodies it was able to access. As for the remaining bodies, they require great effort and special equipment to locate and retrieve them, and we are making a major effort to settle this issue.”
Despite Hamas’ failure to return all of the hostages to Israel, Israel continues to transfer the remains of Gaza terrorists to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
On Thursday, the ministry reported that it received the remains of 30 more terrorists, bringing the total number of bodies received under the peace deal to 120.
Right-wing ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit) and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) called upon the government to block the entry of aid into Gaza until Hamas complies with its obligations under the peace deal.
“The fact that Hamas allows itself to continue playing games and to stall the return of the bodies of our fallen indicates that the terrorist organization is still alive and active, and that the mission to destroy it has not yet been achieved — and must be achieved as soon as possible as part of the war’s objectives,” Ben-Gvir said Tuesday night.
“I call on the Prime Minister to issue a clear ultimatum to Hamas: if you do not immediately return all the bodies of our fallen and continue to delay, we will immediately stop all aid supplies entering the Strip.”
“Enough of the disgrace,” Ben-Gvir said on Wednesday. “Moments after opening the gates to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods — to lie, to deceive, and to torment families and bodies. Nazi terror understands only force, and the only way to solve problems with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”
On Thursday, however, a third party chief in the Netanyahu coalition joined calls to suspend the peace deal.
“I demand that the prime minister and the government immediately freeze every part of the deal with Hamas, including the opening of the Rafah Crossing, the entry of aid and everything that entails, until Hamas returns the [hostages’] bodies to us and cooperates with all seriousness on the matter,” MK Aryeh Deri wrote on X.
“We are obliged to bring all of our brothers and sisters back for burial in Israel.”
Deri, chairman of the Shas party, is a key partner in Netanyahu’s coalition government. Without Shas’ 11 seats, the government would not be able to maintain a majority in the 120-member Knesset.
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