Far-right ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition have rejected the possibility of a broader hostage-for-prisoner release deal with Hamas, as talks continue in Qatar over extending the temporary truce in Gaza, Financial times reports.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, wrote on social media platform X, “Not on the agenda, not even as a suggestion. There is no discussion about it at all.”

 Via X
Via X

He continued: “This is a plan to eliminate the State of Israel. We continue until absolute victory, God willing, and the destruction of the Nazis of Hamas.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, wrote: “Stopping the war = dissolution of the government.”

Meeting Israeli troops inside Gaza, Netanyahu said: “We are continuing until the end — until victory. Nothing will stop us.”

Opinion

Editorial

Debt that stays
30 Jul, 2026

Debt that stays

THE power sector’s circular debt grew by Rs61bn in the last fiscal year, taking the total to roughly Rs1.67tr from...
HIV warning
30 Jul, 2026

HIV warning

THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee...
End trafficking
30 Jul, 2026

End trafficking

MODERN slavery, in the form of human trafficking, is among the state’s gravest failures. Scores of Pakistanis are...
AJK elections
29 Jul, 2026

AJK elections

CONSIDERING the political unrest that has rocked Azad Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past, free and fair general...
Still vulnerable
29 Jul, 2026

Still vulnerable

THE State Bank’s decision to hold the policy rate at 11.5pc is a prudent response to the heightened risks the...
Guarding the past
29 Jul, 2026

Guarding the past

THE return of 513 smuggled archaeological artefacts from the US is a welcome homecoming for objects that should ...