ISRAEL has threatened to resume its assault on Gaza if Hamas fails to return more hostages this weekend.
Speaking after a four-hour cabinet meeting, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered Israeli troops to gather “inside and around the Gaza Strip”, telling viewers: “The military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated."
He has given Hamas until midday on Saturday to return more captives.
Israel had signalled on Monday it planned to reinforce defences along the Gaza border. Since the ceasefire was agreed, thousands of Palestinians have returned to their homes, with the majority finding them destroyed.
So far, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
But it said on Monday — and reiterated on Tuesday — that it planned to delay the next release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to meet the terms of the ceasefire, including by not allowing enough tents and other aid into Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 hostages are not freed by Saturday.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu’s order referred to all hostages, or the three scheduled for release on Saturday.
Hamas brushed off his threat on Tuesday, doubling down on its claim that Israel has violated the ceasefire and warned that it would only continue releasing hostages if all parties adhered to the ceasefire.
Trump is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to take in refugees from Gaza — perhaps permanently — as part of his audacious plan to remake the Middle East.
Palestinians and the international community have seethed over Trump’s recent comments that any Palestinians potentially expelled from Gaza would not have a right to return.
During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas committed to freeing 33 hostages captured in its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, while Israel said it would release nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners. The sides have carried out five swaps since January 19.
The war could resume in early March if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
