Jerusalem:
Two Israeli ministers publicly opposed a ceasefire in Gaza on Sunday, saying Benjamin Netanyahu's government had no right to exist if it failed to invade Rafah, Hamas's last bastion on Palestinian territory.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz called for the destruction of Hamas, as planned by the government when it went to war after the Islamist movement's attack on October 7.
“If you decide to raise a white flag and cancel the plan to occupy Rafah aimed at destroying Hamas to restore Israel's security, then the government led by you has no right to exist,” Smotrich wrote on X, in a speech to the Prime Minister. .
“The Egyptian deal is a humiliating surrender… it sentences the hostages to death and, above all, poses an immediate existential danger to the State of Israel.”
Gantz, a former army chief and defense minister, also pushed for Rafah to be invaded.
“Entering Rafah is important in the long struggle against Hamas,” he said in a statement from his party.
“If a responsible plan for the return of hostages is reached, supported by the entire defense establishment, which does not mean ending the war, and the ministers who led the government on October 7 prevent this – the government will not have the right to continue to exist.”
Diplomatic efforts have intensified to broker a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza, amid growing calls against a ground attack on Rafah.
Netanyahu has vowed to send troops to Rafah, where more than 1.5 million civilians have taken refuge, but is under enormous international and domestic pressure to strike a deal to free the hostages.
A Hamas delegation will arrive in Egypt on Monday to deliver the group's response to Israel's new hostage and ceasefire proposal reportedly backed by Egypt, a senior Hamas official told AFP.
The news website Axios reported, citing two Israeli officials, that Israel's latest proposal includes a willingness to discuss the “restoration of lasting peace” in Gaza after the hostages are released.
It is the first time in the nearly seven-month war that Israeli leaders have suggested they are open to talks about an end to the war, according to Axios.
Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to broker a new ceasefire since a weeklong fighting halt in November, with 80 Israeli hostages swapped for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Israel estimates that 129 hostages are still being held in Gaza, 34 of whom the military says are dead.
Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of about 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,454 people, mostly women and children, in Hamas-held territory, according to the Health Ministry.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)