Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned from the government on Wednesday, reiterating that the government lacks hard hand against Gaza's Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to go toward a long-term cease-fire agreement with Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group that runs Gaza, was "caving in to terror," Lieberman said in a broadcast press conference.

He criticized the government's decision to agree to halt a two-day airstrike in Gaza in order to stop barrages of rockets from Gaza at southern Israel, instead of launching a fully-fledged war against Gaza.

He urged the government to dissolve the parliament and go to early elections as soon as possible.

The resignation will come into effect in 48 hours.