Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli strongly criticized the emerging Gaza ceasefire-hostage release deal in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, warning it would leave key areas exposed and allow Hamas to regroup.
Chikli opposes any partial agreement that does not include Hamas’s disarmament and the return of all hostages. “There is no room for an additional partial deal,” he wrote. He demands full Israeli control of key border zones in Gaza, including Beit Hanoun and the Morag Corridor.
In the same letter, Chikli blasted any potential peace overtures toward Syria under its new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, calling him a “terrorist” with ties to al-Qaeda. He accused Sharaa of only seeking a hudna—a temporary ceasefire—to gain time.
“It is forbidden to make peace with this mass murderer,” Chikli declared.
His remarks underline deep divisions within Israel’s leadership as pressure builds to secure a deal and define the war’s endgame.
