 "Israel's former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Reuters")
Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party will rejoin the Israeli government, two months after it quit over the Gaza truce agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Tuesday.
“Likud and Otzma Yehudit have agreed that the Otzma Yehudit faction will return to the Israeli government today, and the ministers of Otzma Yehudit will return to the government,” said the statement.
Israel on Tuesday launched a deadly attack on Gaza, its first widespread attack since the January ceasefire agreement, as it vowed to continue fighting until all hostages are returned as it unleashed its most intense strikes since a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Hamas has accused Netanyahu of deciding to “resume war” after an impasse in truce negotiations and warned that the return to fighting could be a “death sentence” for hostages still alive in Gaza.
In January, Ben-Gvir, Israel’s former National Security Minister, threatened to quit the government over disputes on the Gaza truce deal. “The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” he said adding it would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian militants and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undefeated.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei called the strikes a “continuation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing” in the Palestinian territories, and accused the United States of “direct responsibility” in the attack.
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More ShortsMeanwhile, Egypt, which has played a key role in mediating between the two warring parties, also condemned the attacks, saying the strikes constitute a “dangerous escalation which threatens to bring serious consequences for the stability of the region.”
It also called on the international community to “act immediately to halt the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the region entering a new spiral of violence and counterviolence”.
With inputs from agencies