Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire within the Gaza Strip and resume its fight against Hamas if the militant group doesn’t go ahead with the subsequent scheduled release of hostages on Saturday.
Hamas said Monday — and reiterated Tuesday — that it planned to delay the discharge of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to fulfill the terms of the ceasefire, including by not allowing enough tents and other aid into Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to call for the discharge of much more remaining hostages on Saturday, nevertheless it wasn’t immediately clear whether Netanyahu’s threat referred to the discharge of all remaining hostages in Gaza, or simply the three scheduled for release on Saturday.
Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli official said Netanyahu ordered the military so as to add more troops in and across the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also ordered officials “to organize for each scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday,” in accordance with the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate a personal meeting.
Israel had signaled Monday it planned to bolster defenses along the Gaza border. The all-scenario plan was announced during a four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet that focused on Hamas’ threat, which risks jeopardizing the three-week-old ceasefire.
Thus far, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for tons of of Palestinian prisoners.
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President Donald Trump has said Israel should cancel the whole ceasefire if all the roughly 70 hostages aren’t freed by Saturday. Hamas brushed off his threat on Tuesday, doubling down on its claim that Israel has violated the ceasefire and warned that it might only proceed releasing hostages if all parties adhered to the ceasefire.
Trump is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II on the White House on Tuesday as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to absorb refugees from Gaza — perhaps permanently — as a 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 wouldn’t have a right to return.
Through the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas committed to freeing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, while Israel said it might release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The perimeters have carried out five swaps since Jan. 19.
The conflict 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.
But when Israel resumes the conflict, it’s going to face a drastically different battlefield. After forcing tons of of hundreds of Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza within the early stages of the conflict, Israel allowed a lot of those displaced people to return to what’s left of their homes, posing a brand new challenge to its ability to maneuver ground troops through the territory.
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