Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza and resume his fight against Hamas If the militant group does not go ahead with the next planned version of the hostages on Saturday.
Hamas said on Monday – and reiterated on Tuesday – that he was planning to delay the release of three other hostages After accused Israel of not having respected the terms of the ceasefire, including by not authorizing enough tents and other aids in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump enhanced Israel to call for the release of hostages even more remaining on Saturday, but he was not immediately clear if the threat of Netanyahu referred to the release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza, or simply the three scheduled for Saturday on Saturday.
Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli official said that Netanyahu had ordered the army to add more troops to the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for each scenario if Hamas does not publish our hostages this Saturday”, according to the official, who spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Israel had pointed out on Monday that it planned to strengthen the defenses along the Gaza border. The scenario plan was announced at a four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and his security firm which focused on the threat of Hamas, which is likely to endanger the three-week ceasefire.
Until now, Hamas has published 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
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President Donald Trump said that Israel should cancel the full ceasefire if every 70 hostages were not released on Saturday. Hamas pushed its threat on Tuesday, double its assertion that Israel violated the ceasefire and warned that it would only continue to release hostages if all parties adhered to the ceasefire.
Trump welcomes Jordan King Abdullah II on Tuesday at the White House while increasing pressure on the Arab nation to accommodate refugees from Gaza – perhaps permanently – as part of his daring plan to redo the Middle East .
The Palestinians and the international community have forced Trump’s recent comments that all the potentially expelled Palestinians of Gaza would not have the right to return.
During the first phase of six weeks of the ceasefire, Hamas undertook to release 33 hostages captured in its October 7, 2023, while Israel said that it would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The parties have made five exchanges since January 19.
The conflict could resume in early March if no agreement is concluded on the second more complicated phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
But if Israel takes up the conflict, he will face a radically different battlefield. After forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate south of Gaza in the early stages of the conflict, Israel has enabled many of these displaced people to return to what remains of their homes, posing a new challenge to its ability to Move land troops across the territory.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
