Hebrew media reported on Saturday evening that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will announce his resignation on Sunday along with his party's ministers, noting that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decided to stay despite his opposition to the agreement with Hamas.

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Otzma Yehudit party announced that after what it called the "kidnapping deal" that will go into effect tomorrow, Sunday, "it will submit letters of resignation from the government and the coalition tomorrow morning."

The newspaper indicated that accordingly, "National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Negev and Galilee Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, in addition to the heads of the committees, MK Limor Son Har-Malik and MK Zvika Fogel, will leave the government."

The newspaper reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that he "strongly opposes the hostage deal," adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "gave the green light to a disastrous deal that poses a threat to Israeli national security and hinders many of the achievements of the war."

Smotrich added: "We demanded and received a commitment to completely change the method of war in order to reach a complete decision through gradual control over the entire Gaza Strip. We did everything in our power to prevent the deal."

However, according to the newspaper, Smotrich "did not announce his resignation from the government after the deal."

In the same context, the Hebrew Channel 12 confirmed that Smotrich "decided to remain in the government" after reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The channel reported that Smotrich made his decision after "an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement all the war's goals, including destroying Hamas' capabilities."

It is noteworthy that during the session in which the Israeli security cabinet voted on Friday morning in favor of the agreement, Netanyahu said, also in an apparent attempt to appease Smotrich: “We received unequivocal guarantees from both presidents - Biden and Trump - that if the second stage of the deal fails and Hamas does not accept our security demands, we will return to intensive fighting with the support of the United States.”

"Netanyahu agreed to Smotrich's conditions regarding the return of the Israeli army to combat and control of humanitarian aid," the Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported on Friday, adding that "significant progress has been made in the talks between the two sides."

Earlier, Smotrich described the ceasefire agreement as a "dangerous deal" for Israel's security, stressing that their continuation in the government depends on assurances that the war will continue with greater force.

Early Saturday morning, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that the Cabinet had approved an agreement with Hamas to cease fire and release hostages in Gaza, a day before the agreement was due to go into effect.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir held a press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening amid mounting speculation that he intends to resign from the current government.

During the conference, Ben-Gvir expressed his strong opposition to the ceasefire agreement negotiated to end military operations in Gaza, describing the agreement as a "bad deal" that represented a "surrender" to the Palestinian factions.

Ben Gvir said: "I will announce my resignation from the government if the Gaza agreement is reached."

Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, agreed to a 42-day ceasefire starting tomorrow, Sunday, January 19.

The agreement will come into effect tomorrow, Sunday, at 08:30 local time in Gaza.

The agreement includes 3 stages, with the first stage expected to last six weeks, during which 33 Israeli prisoners, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, will be exchanged for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

The agreement also stipulated a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.