By Lara Jakes
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned Hamas on Tuesday that if hostages were not released by noon Saturday, the ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip would end and Israeli troops would resume “intense fighting.”
Netanyahu said that Hamas’ threat Monday to postpone the next round of hostage releases amounted to a “decision to violate the agreement.” While the threat was clear, Netanyahu did not specify how many hostages would have to be freed to stop a renewed war.
The prime minister’s office, when asked to clarify, did not confirm how many hostages Netanyahu was referring to.
His statements nearly echoed President Donald Trump’s ultimatum Monday evening to Hamas that said if all Israeli hostages were not released from Gaza by 12 o’clock Saturday, then the ceasefire agreement with Israel should be canceled and “all hell is going to break out.”
Originally, a few hostages were set to be freed Saturday under the first phase of the ceasefire.
In a video posted after a four-hour meeting with his security Cabinet, Netanyahu said he and his top advisers had been shocked by the emaciated appearances of three Israeli men who were freed last Saturday, in the latest hostage-for-prisoner exchange required under the ceasefire deal.
“The decision I passed in the Cabinet, unanimously, is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated,” Netanyahu said in the video, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
Netanyahu also reiterated his order issued Monday night to reinforce troops in and around Gaza but did not specifically say they were planning to recapture territory from which Israel had recently withdrawn. “This operation is currently underway,” Netanyahu said. “It will be completed as soon as possible.”
In its threat Monday to delay the next round of hostages to be released, Hamas had accused Israel of violating parts of the ceasefire. It followed widespread anger among Arab states in the Middle East and even some U.S. allies in Europe over a proposal by Trump to relocate about 2 million Palestinians in Gaza and rebuild the war-torn territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” without allowing its former residents to return. The forced deportation of a civilian population is a war crime under international law.
Sixteen of 33 Israeli hostages have been released so far as required in the initial part of the deal that is set to expire in early March. About 60 other hostages, some of whom are believed to be dead, would be released in a second phase intended to last six weeks.
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