The Japan Times - Israel says to resume Gaza fighting if no hostages released

Trump, who has taken credit for securing the agreement that went into effect last month, said that "hell" would break out if Hamas failed to release "all" Israeli hostages by Saturday.

As he was hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether his deadline still held, and said "Yes".

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated".

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.

"As far as I'm concerned, if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday 12 o'clock... I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out," Trump said on Monday.

Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump's remark "further complicates matters".

"Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return" the hostages, he told AFP.

His group said it would postpone the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the deal and calling for it to fulfil its obligations.

- 'No more phases' -

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".

"No more phases, no more games," Smotrich said in a statement.

"We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to immense tragedy," he said on X.

Yemen's Huthi rebels, who are aligned with Hamas and have launched attacks throughout the war in support of the Palestinians, said on Tuesday they were "ready to launch a military intervention at any time in case of escalation against Gaza".

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".

Outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, several families of hostages rallied with pictures of their loved ones, calling for the implementation of the existing deal.

"We can't afford another arm wrestling between the sides. There is a deal. Go for it!" said Zahiro, whose uncle, Avraham Munder, died in captivity in Gaza.

Relatives of four hostages said on Tuesday that recently freed captives told them that their loved ones were alive, but shared concerning details about their conditions.

Avishag Levy, whose cousin Eliya Cohen was abducted from the site of a music festival, told a parliamentary session she had heard from ex-hostages over the weekend that he was being held in chains and suffering from malnutrition and torture.

In the five hostage-prisoner swaps so far, 16 Israeli hostages have been freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

- '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."

Trump's latest threat came hours after Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said the hostage release scheduled for Saturday was postponed.

It 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.

The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead. Earlier on Tuesday, officials announced the death of Shlomo Mansour, an elderly Israeli hostage whose body is still held in Gaza.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the war has killed at least 48,218 people in the territory, figures the UN considers reliable.

A UN report issued on Tuesday said that more than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the "humanitarian catastrophe" in the devastated territory.

K.Abe--JT