UPDATED: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that he will resume the war on Gaza unless Hamas releases captives held there by Saturday.
In a meeting with the political security cabinet, Netanyahu said they all expressed their “outrage” towards the situation.
“The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this, if Hamas does not return its Hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end and the army will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
The meeting was prompted by the ceasefire, which began on January 19, being called into question after Hamas officials said Israel violated the key provisions of the agreement, causing it to call for the release of three more captives on Saturday.
The ceasefire agreement, announced on January 15 by former U.S. president Joe Biden and commencing on January 19 was supposed to have three stages.
Stage one was set to last 42 days where there would be a complete ceasefire, Hamas would release 33 hostages, and Israel would release around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
According to daily reports from the Ministry of Health, Israel is still killing people in Gaza. Israel is also not allowing the aid needed, in terms of food and shelter, to their prisoners.
According to Hamas, Israel has reached a point where the ceasefire violations no longer hold up its end of the bargain and will 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.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu blamed Hamas for violating the ceasefire on X.
While Hamas claims they have held up their end of the bargain, on 25 January Israel said Hamas did not free a female Israeli civilian captive as promised and retaliated by delaying the return of Palestinians to their homes.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel should cancel the ceasefire if all roughly 70 captives are not freed by Saturday threatening that “all hell is going to break loose” if Hamas do not comply with their demands.
The ceasefire in Gaza was implemented 15 months after the war broke out where around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. Hamas’ initial attack triggered the Israeli military to retaliate resulting in the death of 47,000 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
While this is occurring, Trump has also announced that he has a plan to “own” the Gaza strip and would not include a right of return for more than 2 million Palestinians. No serious discussions have been had so far in the Pentagon or State Department regarding how the U.S. could legally or logistically do this.
