Ben-Gvir threatens to withdraw from Israeli government in case of cease-fire with Hezbollah

JERUSALEM (AA) – Far-right radical Zionist Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to withdraw from the ruling coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a cease-fire with Hezbollah.

The US, the EU, and nine other nations called on Israel and Hezbollah 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, since October 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading Israel’s war raging in Gaza regionally.