Smotrich urges Netanyahu to press ahead with Rafah ground invasion

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to back down from a planned ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Smotrich said that agreeing to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire would constitute a humiliating defeat.

On Saturday, Israel's foreign minister said the operation in Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in tents and makeshift homes, could be suspended should a deal emerge to release Israeli captives in Gaza.

Smotrich said in a video statement addressed to Netanyahu that without eradicating Hamas "a government headed by you will have no right to exist".