
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at the Israeli Knesset. AP
Since early January, indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed in Doha to strike a ceasefire deal that would also facilitate the release of dozens of captives still held in Gaza.
"The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel's national security," Smotrich said on X. "We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many captives still in captivity.
"Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip," he continued.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar meanwhile said that Israel was "working hard" to reach a deal that would facilitate the release of the captives.
At a joint press conference with his visiting Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Jerusalem on Monday, Saar said: "There has been progress in the negotiations."
'Significant progress'
A senior Palestinian official close to Hamas said "significant progress" had been made in negotiations for a deal.
"The current round of negotiations is the most serious and deep and has made significant progress," he told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter.
He said the draft agreement was being finalised to work out the details of how many captives would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Discussions are also underway regarding the volume of humanitarian aid to be delivered Gaza, he added.
Smotrich, an outspoken member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza.
His comments came amid rising calls by Israelis, particularly families of captives still held in Gaza, to reach an accord that would bring home their loved ones.
Smotrich's remarks underline the sharp divides in Netanyahu's ruling coalition over a deal.
Netanyahu could nonetheless muster enough support to pass the deal through his cabinet, even without Smotrich's support.
On Sunday, Netanyahu briefed outgoing US President Joe Biden on the "progress in negotiations" in Doha.
"The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Successive rounds of negotiations held last year repeatedly failed to produce a deal.
Gaza strikes
Among the key sticking points in the talks have been disagreements over a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, as well the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.
Other aspects hindering the deal include the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory and the reopening of border crossings.
Netanyahu has firmly rejected a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and remains opposed to any Palestinian governance of the territory.
Even as negotiations continued in Doha, Israeli forces continued to pound Gaza on Monday.
Four people were killed and several injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in a central area of Gaza City, the territory's civil defence agency reported.
Two people were killed and several injured in Israeli shelling targeting a group of people in Gaza City, according to Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations says are reliable.
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