JERUSALEM: Zionist far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday vowed to oppose any deal to end the Gaza war, while a senior Palestinian official said “significant progress” had been made in negotiations in Doha. Since early January, indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed in Doha to strike a ceasefire deal that would also facilitate the release of dozens of captives still held in Gaza.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and US President Joe Biden discussed in a phone call on Monday joint mediation efforts to end the war in Gaza, the Amir’s office said. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also received a Hamas delegation headed by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya to discuss the ceasefire talks. Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the outgoing Biden administration’s envoy Brett McGurk also discussed developments in efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza with the Qatari Amir.

“The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for (the Zionist entity’s) national security,” Smotrich said on X. “We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many hostages still in captivity. Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip,” he continued.

“We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid to prevent its exploitation by Hamas, and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally and all hostages are safely returned.” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar meanwhile said the Zionist entity was “working hard” to reach a deal that would facilitate the release of the captives.

At a joint press conference with his visiting Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Jerusalem on Monday, Saar said: “There has been progress in the negotiations for the release of the hostages. (The Zionist entity) really wants to release the hostages and is working hard to secure a deal.”

A senior Palestinian official close to Hamas said “significant progress” had been made in negotiations for a deal. “The current round of negotiations is the most serious and deep and has made significant progress,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the draft agreement was being finalized to work out the details of how many captives would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Discussions are also underway regarding the volume of humanitarian aid to be delivered Gaza, he added.

Smotrich, an outspoken member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza. His comments came amid rising calls by Zionists, particularly families of hostages still held in Gaza, to reach an accord that would bring home their loved ones. Smotrich’s remarks underline the sharp divides in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition over a deal.

Netanyahu could nonetheless muster enough support to pass the deal through his cabinet, even without Smotrich’s support. On Sunday, Netanyahu briefed outgoing US President Biden on the “progress in negotiations” in Doha. “The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations for the release of our hostages and updated him on the mandate he has given to the negotiating team in Doha, aimed at advancing the release of the hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Even as negotiations continued in Doha, Zionist forces continued to pound Gaza on Monday, killing at least 21 people. Five people were killed and several injured in a Zionist air strike that targeted a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in a central area of Gaza City, the territory’s civil defense agency reported. Two people were killed and several injured in Zionist shelling targeting a group of people in Gaza City, according to Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza’s civil defense agency.

Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said the group’s fighters attacked Zionist forces in the area killing at least 10 soldiers and injuring dozens of others in the past 72 hours. The Zionist entity confirmed on Saturday that four soldiers had been killed. On Monday, the Zionist army said five of its soldiers had been killed during combat in northern Gaza. The Zionist military offensive in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians. – Agencies