Stopping the Gaza war now would be foolish

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday that it would be a big mistake to stop the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip now.

Smotrich, head of a settler party that is part of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, made the remarks as Israeli officials continued talks through mediators about a possible ceasefire with Hamas.

He wrote on the social media platform X: “Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. Now is the time to wring the enemy’s neck until it is destroyed and broken. To stop now, close to the end, and let it recover and fight us again is senseless folly.”

Several politicians in the Middle East and the United States believe that the extent of the destruction in Gaza caused by the nine-month Israeli offensive has likely contributed to Hamas watering down its calls for a ceasefire.

At the weekend, Hamas appeared to drop its long-standing demand that Israel end the war as part of a ceasefire agreement. The sudden change of course raises new hopes for progress in the internationally mediated negotiations.

On Sunday, Netanyahu boasted that military pressure – which includes Israel’s two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah – “is the reason Hamas entered into negotiations.”