Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Saturday that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced his resignation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, in protest against the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

At the same time, the newspaper said that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed Netanyahu's commitment to gradually controlling the Gaza Strip, while keeping it "uninhabitable," as he put it.

Ben-Gvir, who is also the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, said yesterday that he and his party would resign from the Knesset if the agreement was ratified, noting that this agreement would eliminate the achievements made in the war on the Strip.

Ben-Gvir called for a "complete halt" to the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in order to pressure for the "release of the hostages" held in the Strip.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States announced in a joint statement last Wednesday that they had reached an agreement to cease fire in Gaza and exchange prisoners between Israel and Hamas, which is scheduled to go into effect at 8:30 a.m. (6:30 GMT) on Sunday.

The agreement ends more than 15 months of fighting between the two warring parties. The agreement includes 3 stages, where in the first stage, which lasts for 42 days, 33 Israeli hostages will be released in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a large-scale war against Hamas, which has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza and destroyed the infrastructure on an unprecedented scale.

This war came in response to a surprise attack launched by Hamas on towns and military sites in southern Israel, which led to the killing of 1,200 Israelis and the taking of hostages.