Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called the potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas a “serious error”, Al Jazeera reports, citing Israeli media.

“Hamas is at its lowest point since the beginning of the war, and this is not the time to give it a lifeline,” Smotrich told the Haredi radio station Kol Barama, according to the Ynet News site.

The minister said without providing details that the deal would not serve the interests of Israel or return the captives “because in the end it’s a partial deal”. Yet, Smotrich did not threaten to pull out from the governing coalition should a deal be reached.

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