Jerusalem: Israel's far-right finance minister has threatened to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition if he doesn't resume the war in Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire expires in six weeks.

Bezalel Smotrich made the threat on Monday, a day after the ceasefire went into effect. "If, God forbid, the war is not resumed, I will bring the government down," Smotrich told reporters.

Smotrich, who leads an ultranationalist religious party, voted against the deal but has remained in the governing coalition for the time being. His departure would rob Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority, setting the stage for the government's collapse and early elections.

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Smotrich said he received assurances that Israel will resume the war after the first phase, during which 33 hostages held in Gaza are to return home, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. The second phase, which must still be negotiated, is to work out an end to the war and return of all remaining hostages.

"I insisted, demanded, and received an unequivocal commitment from the prime minister, the minister of defence and the rest of my Cabinet colleagues -- we will not stop this war a moment before realising its full goals," Smotrich said.

Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has already resigned over the ceasefire agreement.

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Amid this, in their first public comments since reuniting with their loved ones, relatives of the three Israeli women freed from captivity in Gaza thanked those who made their release possible.

They also pleaded to the Israeli government to carry out the phased ceasefire deal that led to their loved ones' release, and warned their road to recovery could be long.

"Doron asked me to convey this message," Yamit Ashkenazi, sister of released hostage Doron Steinbrecher, said in a statement to the press at the hospital where the women are still undergoing medical evaluations."Go out into the streets. We must carry out all the steps of the deal. Just as I was able to return to my family, everyone should return," Ashkenazi said.

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