Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said late Thursday that he would withdraw the Jewish Power party from the government of Benjamin Netanyahu if the government implements a ceasefire in Gaza out.
Israel and Hamas have reached a multi-phase deal to halt the 15-month war and release 98 hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza, U.S.-led mediators said on Wednesday.
Netanyahu's cabinet is due to meet on Friday to ratify the deal, which Ben-Gweil called "reckless" and "a prize for Hamas" and said his party was unable to support it.
"(This deal) will end the war before Hamas is defeated and we have not achieved the goals of the war," Ben-Gweil told a news conference.
"When we see and hear the cheers and dancing in Gaza, and the cheers in the (occupied West Bank), we understand which side surrendered in this deal."
However, Ben-Gevir said he would rejoin Netanyahu's coalition to "decisively" defeat Hamas if the war "rekindled", adding that he would not be committed if he were in the opposition to overthrow the long-serving prime minister. .
In response, Netanyahu's Likud party issued a statement saying "whoever disbands the right-wing government will be remembered in history as a disgrace."
It added that the deal would allow Israel to resume war with Hamas "with U.S. guarantees."
Ben-Gevir and his ultra-nationalist ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have repeatedly threatened to leave Netanyahu if his government accepts a deal to end the war government.
The departure of Jewish forces would give the Prime Minister's Alliance a two-seat majority in the Knesset. It would also put pressure on Smotrich's Religious Zionist party to follow suit and withdraw.
Ben-Gevir called on Religious Zionist and Likud MPs to "fulfill what they have said over the past year" and oppose the deal.
While Ben-Gevir and Smotrich are not considered to have enough support in the cabinet to scuttle the deal, if Netanyahu puts the deal to a vote and both pull their far-right parties out of the government, the government will lose its parliamentary majority.
Israel's political system does not prohibit a minority government, and opposition parties have said they are prepared to support Netanyahu's coalition if needed.
But losing two allies would shake Netanyahu's power and could lead to early elections.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier on Thursday that after speaking with negotiators, he was "confident" that a ceasefire in Gaza would take effect as planned on Sunday, a day before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The multi-stage deal builds on a plan first proposed by US President Joe Biden last year and includes an initial 42-day truce during which 33 hostages, including children, women, the sick and the elderly, are to be released.
In exchange, Palestinians would be released from Israeli prisons, more aid would come to Gaza and Israel would partially withdraw its troops from the enclave.
By Day 16 of the armistice, Israel and Hamas plan to begin negotiating a second phase of the deal, which would include the release of remaining living hostages, a full Israeli troop withdrawal and an end to the war.
The final phase will involve the return of all remaining hostage bodies and the reconstruction of Gaza.
The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which the group's militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
An Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people and worsened the enclave's humanitarian disaster, according to Palestinian officials.