Ben-Gvir threatens to withdraw from Israeli government over potential cease-fire with Hezbollah

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened Thursday to withdraw from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition if he agrees to a cease-fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The US, EU, and nine other nations called on Israel and Hezbollah late Wednesday to agree to a 21-day cease-fire amid an escalation in their cross-border warfare.

Ben-Gvir told Netanyahu that his Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party “will not vote with the coalition if the government agrees to a temporary cease-fire with Hezbollah,” Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

The extremist minister also threatened during a party meeting “to leave the government if the cease-fire was permanent.”

"We will not abandon the residents of the north. Every day that this cease-fire is in effect and Israel does not fight in the north – Otzma Yehudit is not committed to the coalition," Ben-Gvir said.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing more than 650 people and injuring over 2,500 others, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala