Gaza: Netanyahu Issues New Threat If Captives Not Released

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume the war on Gaza unless Hamas releases the captives held there by Saturday.

The continuation of the ceasefire, which began on January 19, has been called into question after Hamas officials said Israel has violated key provisions of the agreement, prompting it to call off the release of three more captives on Saturday.

“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon (10:00 GMT), the ceasefire will end, and the [Israeli army] will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said in a post on X.

Hamas said Israeli ceasefire violations had reached a point where it would no longer hold up its end of the bargain and would delay the release of an upcoming group of Israeli captives indefinitely.

“The resistance leadership monitored the enemy’s violations and their noncompliance with the terms of the agreement. … Meanwhile, the resistance fulfilled all its obligations,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said on Monday.

Netanyahu, in a series of tweets on Tuesday, blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire and added that he ordered the Israeli army to “amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip”.

So far, as part of the agreement, Hamas has released 21 captives in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

United States President Donald Trump has said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 captives are not freed by Saturday, threatening that if Hamas did not comply, “all hell is going to break loose”.

Trump is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to take in Palestinians he plans to forcibly remove from Gaza as part of a “takeover” plan.

At least 48,219 Palestinians have been confirmed killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023 and 111,665 wounded, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The Gaza Government Media Office has updated the death toll to at least 61,709 because many missing persons trapped under the rubble of Gaza’s buildings are now presumed dead.