Israeli minister rejects halting war on Gaza, calls for military rule of enclave

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israel’s hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that his Religious Zionist Party would not agree on halting the fighting in Gaza and called for Israeli military rule of the enclave after the war.

Smotrich made the statement during a meeting with the party at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, according to the local Channel 12.

He said halting the war in Gaza for two months would mean losing the Israeli army’s achievements there and would allow the Palestinian group Hamas to restore its rule, enabling terrorism to enter the enclave again once the army withdraws.

His comments came in reaction to reports in Israeli media that Israel and Hamas were close to reaching a cease-fire deal under which a two-month cease-fire would take effect and a prisoner swap would occur.

"There will be Israeli military rule in Gaza because it's agreed upon by all of us," Smotrich said in an interview with Channel 12 on Saturday.

He also spoke out against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), saying it must be kicked out of Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel has alleged that some of the agency’s employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, killing at least 26,637 Palestinians and injuring 65,387. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar