Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would resume "intense fighting" in Gaza if Hamas did not return hostages by Saturday noon, without specifying whether he was referring to all captives.
"If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the Israeli military will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated," Netanyahu said in a statement issued after a meeting with his security cabinet.
Netanyahu's statement, issued after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, did not specify whether he was referring to all captives, but his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right leader, called on the premier to "open the gates of hell" if Israel doesn't get back "all the hostages... by Saturday".
Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, called on the prime minister to "open the gates of hell" on Hamas if the Palestinian militant group failed to release all hostages by Saturday.
In a statement, Smotrich urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "inform Hamas unequivocally: Either all the hostages are released by Saturday—no more phases, no more games—or we open the gates of hell on them."
Under the terms of the ceasefire, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, hostages were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps.
But the agreement has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting diplomatic efforts to salvage it.
Tensions, which initially spiked after Trump proposed last month taking over Gaza and removing its more than two million inhabitants, have grown following his latest comments.
Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump's remark "further complicates matters".
His group said it would postpone the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the deal and calling for it to fulfill its obligations.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release.
"We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to immense tragedy," he said on X.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had decided "to raise the level of readiness" of its forces near the Gaza Strip and "increase reinforcements with additional troops, including reservists".
- 'The people pay the price' -
In Gaza, concerns over the fate of the ceasefire were prevalent.
"I pray that the ceasefire holds, but there are no guarantees because the ruling faction in Israel wants war, and I believe there is also a faction within Hamas that wants war," said Adnan Qassem, 60, from Deir el-Balah.
"The people are the ones who suffer and pay the price."
Hamas accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend.
But the group said, "The door remains open for the prisoner exchange batch to proceed as planned, once the occupation complies".
Talks on a second phase were supposed to start on day 16 of the truce, but Israel had refused to send negotiators to Doha.
With AFP
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