"Short-sighted celebrations" Israeli Minister Smotrich rejects Gaza deal
While hopes for a ceasefire are rising internationally, criticism from the right-wing camp is making waves in Israel: Finance Minister Smotrich warns urgently of the consequences of the agreement with Hamas.
09.10.2025, 13:21
09.10.2025, 13:30
SDA
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- Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich firmly rejects the agreement with Hamas and has announced that he will not approve the deal.
- Although he welcomes the return of the hostages, he warns against the release of Palestinian prisoners, whom he describes as a security risk.
- The Israeli government plans to discuss the agreement this afternoon; only then will the agreed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip come into force.
The far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has spoken out clearly against the agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. He and his party would not agree to the deal, Smotrich wrote on the X platform.
Although the Finance Minister expressed "great joy" about the imminent return of the hostages, he also spoke of "great concern" about the release of Palestinian prisoners.
He described a "tremendous fear" of the consequences of "emptying the prisons and releasing the next generation of terrorist leaders who will do everything they can to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood here". For this reason, he said, he could not join in the short-sighted celebrations following the agreement at the talks.
Israel's government is due to meet later this afternoon to discuss the points of the agreement and officially approve it. This was reported by the "Times of Israel" with reference to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is assumed that only then will the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip come into force. There was initially no official information on the next steps following the overnight agreement.
