Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Israel’s Smotrich: Stopping Gaza War Now Would be Folly

A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A woman walks with a girl past the rubble of a destroyed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 8, 2024. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Monday it would be a huge mistake to stop Israel's military offensive in Gaza now.

Smotrich, who heads a pro-settler party which is part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition, made the comment as Israeli officials continued talks via mediators about a possible ceasefire deal with Hamas.

He wrote on social media platform X: "Hamas is collapsing and begging for a ceasefire. This is the time to squeeze the neck until we crush and break the enemy. To stop now, just before the end, and let him recover and fight us again, is a senseless folly."

Several officials in the Middle East and the US believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by the nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any ceasefire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations.

Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure — including Israel’s ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — “is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations.”



Trump Says Gaza Ceasefire Possible this Week or Next

US President Donald Trump listens to opening remarks, on the day he hosts a lunch for African representatives of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump listens to opening remarks, on the day he hosts a lunch for African representatives of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Trump Says Gaza Ceasefire Possible this Week or Next

US President Donald Trump listens to opening remarks, on the day he hosts a lunch for African representatives of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump listens to opening remarks, on the day he hosts a lunch for African representatives of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, July 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump said there is a "very good chance" of a ceasefire in Gaza this week or next, after meeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for the second time in two days to discuss the situation.

"We have a chance this week or next week," Trump told reporters.

Israel's military chief said on Wednesday "conditions have been created" for the advancement of a hostage release deal in Gaza, as indirect negotiations were under way between Israel and Hamas.

"We have achieved many significant results, we have caused great damage to the governance and military capabilities of Hamas," armed forces chief Eyal Zamir said in a televised speech.

"Thanks to the operational power that we have demonstrated, the conditions have been created to advance a deal to release the hostages."

Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his meeting with Trump focused on freeing the hostages held in Gaza, and stressed his determination to "eliminate" the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas.