Binyamin Netanyahu has warned that if the remaining hostages in Gaza are not released by Saturday, he will cancel the ceasefire and let “all hell break out”.
The Israeli prime minister said: “The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this: if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will be terminated, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.”
Netanyahu made the video statement after a four-hour meeting of his cabinet. He did not specify whether he was referring to all captives.
It followed comments made by President Trump on Monday night, in which he said that 33 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas should be freed by noon on Saturday or it should face the consequences.
Hamas’s military wing suggested that it would cancel a release planned for Saturday until further notice
ABED RAHIM KHATIB/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Trump also used the phrase “all hell will break out”, and asked by reporters what he meant, the US president said: “You’ll find out, and they’ll find out too. Hamas will find out what I mean.”
On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his belief that the US would take control of Gaza, at a press conference alongside King Abdullah of Jordan at the White House, before the two started talks in the Oval Office. Abdullah refused to endorse Trump’s plan for post-war Gaza during the talks.
Trump with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House
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ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES
Trump, 78, repeated his expectation that Gaza’s two million inhabitants would be moved to Egypt and Jordan to make way for what he described earlier this week as “a real estate development for the future”.
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Questioned about the plan, Trump said that there are “parcels of land” in Jordan that could become a permanent home for displaced Gazans. Trump also said the US had spoken to other countries, without naming them, about taking in Palestinians when Indonesia and Albania were mentioned by reporters.
“We’re going to take it,” Trump said of Gaza. “We’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it. We’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East.” He added that his plans would “bring peace” to the region.
The president has threatened to cut billions of dollars in aid to Amman and Cairo if they refused to take people from Gaza, an announcement that has caused consternation in the Middle East.
Donald Trump warns of “hell” if hostages are not released
The king, 63, refused to endorse the plan and has previously said he rejects any moves to annex land and displace Palestinians. He pointedly refused to endorse it when asked by reporters. Abdullah said he would do what is best for his country, adding that Arab nations would come to Washington with a counterproposal.
He said: “Mr President, I think we have to keep in mind that there is a plan from Egypt and the Arab countries, [we are] being invited by Mohammed bin Salman [the Saudi crown prince] for discussions in Riyadh.
“The point is how to make this work in a way that is good for everybody.”
He announced that Amman was planning to take 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza, something Trump described as a “beautiful gesture”.
During the meeting in the Oval Office, Trump also said of Hamas: “I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline, personally.” He added: “They want to play tough guy. We’ll see how tough they are.”
In the talks, Abdullah also stressed that the potential influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into Jordan threatened to destabilise one of America’s closest regional allies.
“This will be King Abdullah’s most contentious US visit in his 25-year reign,” said Ahmad Sharawi, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. “With President Trump threatening to stop aid unless Jordan accepts Gazans, King Abdullah must persuade him by offering an alternative — one that includes great Jordanian involvement in Gaza’s post-war phase.”
Families of the hostages and their supporters staged a protest in Israel on Tuesday, blocking a highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and demanding that Netanyahu preserve and extend the ceasefire.
In a statement they demanded that Netanyahu “stop undermining the agreement and send a [negotiating] team to Doha that has a full mandate to negotiate the second phase, that will lead to the release of all the remaining hostages in one go”.
Holding Israeli flags and pictures of their loved ones, several families of hostages also protested in front of Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.
“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.
Al-Qassam Brigades soldiers before the latest hostage handover
ABED RAHIM KHATIB/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
It came after Hamas had said on Monday that it would delay the release of more hostages, throwing the ceasefire agreement into doubt, and Israel put its military on high alert.
The increase in tensions came after astatement by the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, suggested that it would cancel until further notice a release that had been planned for Saturday.
It accused Israel of violating the terms of the agreement struck in January, under which hostages abducted during the October 7 attacks on Israel in 2023 were to be exchanged with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Hamas’s statement said: “Over the past three weeks, the leadership of the resistance has monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to comply with the terms of the agreement.
Eli Sharabi was paraded in front of cameras in Gaza before being handed to the Red Cross
ABDEL KAREEM HANA/AP
“These violations include delaying the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the strip, and failing to allow the entry of humanitarian aid in all its agreed-upon forms.”
Israel responded by accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal. Israel Katz, the defence minister, said: “Hamas’s announcement to stop releasing Israeli hostages is a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and the deal to release the hostages.
“I have instructed the [Israel Defence Forces] to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza and to protect the communities. We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7.”
The Israeli army later announced it would reinforce forces and postpone leave for combat soldiers and operational units within its southern command.
Hamas made the announcement after another disorderly exchange of hostages on Saturday, the halfway point in the initial six-week ceasefire deal. Talks about the second stage of the ceasefire deal, which concerns the release of the remaining hostages and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, began last week but have shown little sign of serious progress.
Israelis have become increasingly distressed by the handover ceremonies staged by Hamas, in which bewildered hostages are expected to praise their captors. Israel has accused Hamas of using hostages for propaganda purposes during the swaps.
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The war in Gaza has left more than 48,000 people dead, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Last month, Israel delayed the release of 110 Palestinian prisoners in retaliation for chaos during a release at Khan Yunis.
Since January 19, 16 Israeli hostages and 599 Palestinian prisoners have been freed. Thirty-three Israelis and 1,900 Palestinians are slated for release by the end of the first phase of the deal. Eight of those Israeli captives are believed to be dead, but their names have not been confirmed.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that one hostage Shlomo Mansour, 86, had been murdered during the October 7 attacks, and his body taken to Gaza. Relatives of Gali and Ziv Berman, 27-year-old twins who are also hostages in Gaza, said they had received signs of life from the brothers, without giving further details.