Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir has criticized the agreement between Israel and Lebanon on a new attempt to implement a ceasefire as a "serious mistake."
He described it as "the pipe dreams of advisers who are dragging the prime minister into incorrect decisions," in a post on the platform X on Thursday.
The agreement would in fact only make the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia stronger, Ben-Gvir said. "In practice, Hezbollah will only grow stronger, and instead of defeating it, Israel is coming to terms with its very existence," he wrote.
He added that the Lebanese state was a "partner of Hezbollah" and was not capable of pushing the militia, which is hostile to Israel, out of the border area.
Ben-Gvir leads Israel's far-right Jewish Power party, which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition.
Israel and Lebanon had overnight agreed on a new path to implementing the ceasefire, which had until now been effectively non-functional. This was contingent on a complete halt to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel, according to a joint statement issued after talks between Israeli and Lebanese government officials in Washington.
