Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is a leading figure in Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank, signals the Gaza ceasefire is still alive but may not last long, Al Jazeera reports.

“The state of Israel will return to fighting with all its might and occupy Gaza, take responsibility there, and initiate a massive emigration operation,” he told Israeli radio 103fm in reference to the ethnic cleansing plan proposed by Donald Trump.

“This is a crazy logistical event in coordination with the US. We will occupy the Gaza Strip, destroy Hamas, and there will be no threat from Gaza to the citizens of Israel.”

Smotrich said his opinion was that Israel must back Trump’s assertion that all captives held in Gaza must be released by Saturday, but Netanyahu made a different choice to go ahead with the ceasefire for now. He said the Israeli prime minister is intentionally spreading a sense of “ambiguity”.

“Our policy right now is to exhaust the chances of returning as many of the hostages as possible, certainly those who are alive, before returning to the war to realise its goal of destroying Hamas.”