Ben-Gvir threatens to dismantle Israeli govt over any 'reckless' Hamas deal

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to bring down the government if a "reckless" deal is reached with the Hamas group.

"A reckless deal is equal to the dismantlement of the [Israeli] government," Ben-Gvir wrote on his X account.

The current coalition government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has 64 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset (Israel’s parliament).

It needs the support of at least 61 lawmakers to pass any deal in the Knesset.

Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power Party has 14 lawmakers in the Knesset, meaning he could easily topple the government.

Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich oppose any ceasefire deal with Hamas.

'Eventual deal'

The White House said Monday that negotiators seeking to broker a deal for the release of additional hostages held by Hamas have developed a “framework” that could lead to an eventual deal.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the proposal includes the release of 35 Israeli hostages in return for a 6-week ceasefire in Gaza and the release of thousands of Palestinian detainees.

On Tuesday, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh confirmed that his group is studying a proposal for a ceasefire deal with Israel.

Hamas is believed to be holding nearly 136 Israelis.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on Gaza on October 7, in response to an attack by the resistance group Hamas, killing at least 26,751 Palestinians and injuring 65,636 since then.

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