Ceasefire Enforced in Gaza, 3 Israeli Ministers Resign in Protest Against Agreement
Tel Aviv (The Uttam Hindu): A ceasefire was implemented in Gaza early on Sundayy January 19, 2025 following a delay of several hours. The ceasefire took effect at 1:15 AM local time (09:15 GMT) after which three ministers resigned from the Israeli government in protest of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. The three ministers belong to the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. According to reports, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Minister for Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a statement, their party confirmed that from this point, Otzma Yehudit was no longer a member of the coalition.
In a letter to Netanyahu, Otzma Yehudit party leader Ben-Gvir described the ceasefire agreement as a "complete victory for terrorism." He emphasized that while their intention was not to overthrow Netanyahu’s government, they would vote according to their ideological stance and conscience on such issues. The Israeli government had previously voted in favor of approving a hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas on Saturday. Earlier, the security cabinet had also given its approval to the deal. Ben-Gvir stated that "we will not return to the government's table without achieving a full victory over Hamas and the goals of the war." In a statement, the party also mentioned that MKs Zvika Fogel, Limor Son Har-Melech and Yitzhak Kreizer had submitted resignation letters from their positions on various committees. However, the statement did not mention MK Almog Cohen who has taken a separate stance on several occasions in recent weeks, voting with the coalition, making his current position unclear.
Meanwhile, Hamas released the names of three female hostages who are set to be freed under the Gaza ceasefire agreement on Sunday. This announcement led to a few hours' delay before the ceasefire finally took effect. According to the mediation team from Qatar, the ceasefire was originally set to begin at 8:30 AM on Sunday but this was postponed. Israel stated that the ceasefire would not be effective until the Palestinian group provided a list of the names of the three hostages. According to reports, a spokesperson for Hamas stated on Telegram that on the first day of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas had released the names of three Israeli hostages to be freed. The spokesperson from Hamas's armed wing the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida said, "As part of a prisoner exchange agreement, we have decided to release Romi Gonen (24), Emily Damari (28) and Doron Shtanber Khair (31) today." Israeli media reported that the three women were taken hostage during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Gonen was abducted from the Nova Festival while Damari, a British-Israeli citizen and Shtanber were kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel had still not received the list of hostages to be released by Hamas on Sunday, causing further delays in the commencement of the ceasefire.
