Hamas said Thursday it could release three more Israeli hostages as planned, paving the best way toward resolving a significant dispute over the ceasefire within the Gaza Strip.
Hamas had threatened to delay the following release of captives, accusing Israel of failing to satisfy its obligations to permit in tents and shelters, amongst other alleged violations of the truce. Israel, with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, had threatened to renew its offensive if hostages weren’t freed.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on Hamas’ announcement, nevertheless it should allow the ceasefire to proceed for now, though the long run of the truce stays doubtful.
Hamas said its delegation held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in touch with Qatar’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in an announcement that the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles.”
Shortly after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that three hostages will probably be released on Saturday.
Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV, which is near the country’s security services, reported that Egypt and Qatar had succeeded in resolving the dispute. The 2 Arab countries have served as key mediators with Hamas and helped broker the ceasefire, which took effect in January, greater than 15 months into the war.
Egyptian media also aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Trump has introduced more uncertainty
The truce faces a much larger challenge in the approaching weeks. The primary phase is ready to conclude firstly of March, and there haven’t yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, by which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.
Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them in other countries has thrown the truce’s future into further doubt. The plan has been welcomed by Israel but vehemently rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, which have refused to just accept any influx of refugees. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the primary phase with the goal of implementing Trump’s plan and annihilating Hamas, which stays answerable for the territory after surviving one in all the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
The conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Greater than half have been released in deals with Hamas or other agreements, eight have been rescued and dozens of bodies have been recovered.
The captives are among the many only bargaining chips Hamas has left, and it could be difficult to get the group to commit to further releases if it believes the war will resume.
Trump has given mixed signals about what he desires to see in Gaza.
He took credit for brokering the ceasefire, which was reached days before he took office after greater than a 12 months of negotiations under the Biden administration. But he has also expressed misgivings about how the agreement is unfolding and says it’s as much as Israel whether to resume the war or not, while pledging continued U.S. military support.
Seventy-three hostages haven’t yet been released, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all of the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.
The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and kids, based on Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say what number of were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel’s offensive has obliterated large parts of Gaza. At its height, the fighting had displaced 90% of the territory’s population of two.3 million. A whole lot of hundreds have returned to their homes for the reason that ceasefire took hold, though many have found only mounds of rubble and buried human stays and unexploded ordnance.
A ‘latest war’ would likely be far worse
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, echoing Trump, said Wednesday that “all hell will break loose” if Hamas stops releasing hostages. He said a “latest Gaza war” wouldn’t end until Hamas was defeated, which might allow for Trump’s vision of mass displacement to be carried out.
With far fewer hostages remaining in Gaza, Israel’s military would have more freedom to act.
It will also face far fewer constraints from the US, its predominant military patron. The Biden administration, while providing crucial military and diplomatic support, had occasionally pressed Israel to permit in additional aid and at one point suspended some weapons shipments. It had also said there needs to be no everlasting displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
Trump has lifted restrictions on arms transfers, and his administration is pressing ahead with the sale of $7 billion price of weapons approved under President Joe Biden.
Trump has said Gaza’s population needs to be resettled elsewhere within the region, with wealthy Arab countries paying for it. He has suggested that when the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the US, which might then redevelop it because the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key partner in Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition, has called for a resumption of the war, the “voluntary migration” of huge numbers of Palestinians from Gaza and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements there.
Lidman reported from Jerusalem.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
