Bennett at scene of rocket attack in the Sharon region
Bennett at scene of rocket attack in the Sharon regionHezki Baruch

New Right chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett responded on Monday evening to claims by Hamas of a ceasefire following the current escalation on the southern border and said that "a ceasefire at this moment will be a tailwind for terrorism."

"There is no country in the world that does not charge a price for missiles on its citizens, and there is no country in the world where the blood of citizens is cheap, as we have been experiencing in the past few days. Bombing empty buildings endangers Israel's deterrence and brings the next missiles upon us," said Bennett.

He added, "I will be with the residents of the Gaza envelope tonight, and I will do everything possible to prevent such a disgrace from happening. There are not and there will not be second-class citizens in Israel."

Bennett’s comments came after Arab media reported that a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect at 10:00 p.m. Monday evening.

A Hamas leader in Gaza claimed the ceasefire was achieved through intensive Egyptian mediation over the last few hours.

The Al-Arabiya network reported that Egypt pressed the parties to stop the fire and threatened to withdraw its services from mediation if the fire did not stop.

Jerusalem denied that a ceasefire had been reached with Hamas and a security source even said that the air strikes on Gaza would continue.