Israel's far-right finance minister has warned that he will overthrow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's regime if the war in Gaza is not restarted after the first phase of the ceasefire ends in six weeks. 

On Monday, a day after the ceasefire was implemented, Bezalel Smotrich issued the threat. "If, God forbid, the war is not resumed, I will bring the government down," Smotrich told reporters. Smotrich, the head of a religious ultra-nationalist party, voted against the agreement but has so far stayed in the ruling coalition. Netanyahu will lose his parliamentary majority if he leaves, paving the way for the fall of the government and early elections.

According to Smotrich, he has been assured that Israel will return to war after the first phase, which includes the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and the return of 33 hostages held in Gaza. The second stage, which is still up for negotiation, is to resolve the conflict and release the 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.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's national security minister, has already resigned due to the ceasefire deal. Netanyahu has yet to provide the public with any assurances that Israel will move on with Phase 2 of the accord in an effort to stabilise his fragile coalition.