Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to mass around the Gaza Strip and threatened to resume “intensive fighting” against Hamas if the Palestinian militant group failed to release Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s ultimatum on Tuesday came after Hamas’s announcement that it was delaying “until further notice” the planned release of three hostages this weekend in protest at alleged Israeli violations of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
Israel’s threat comes after US President Donald Trump this week warned Hamas to release “all” hostages by Saturday or he would let “hell break out”.
He repeated his warning on Tuesday as he hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah, the first Arab leader to visit the White House since Trump’s re-election.
Netanyahu said that, in response to Hamas’s announcement on Monday, he had “ordered the [Israel Defense Forces] to amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip”.
He added that a meeting of his security cabinet had approved a decision that “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”.
At an awkward appearance in the Oval Office with King Abdullah, Trump doubled down on his plan for Gaza to be emptied of Palestinians and for the US to take over the besieged territory, despite the proposal triggering widespread anger across the Arab world.
Trump has urged Jordan and Egypt to take in Gazans and previously threatened to withhold aid to the two US allies if they refused.
The two countries, and their Arab neighbours, have strongly rejected the displacement of Palestinians, believing it would destabilise the region and end hopes of a Palestinian state being established.
Amman and Cairo also worry it would imperil their own countries’ security and are fearful of popular outrage if they are seen to be complicit with any plan to expel Palestinians.
King Abdullah avoided directly answering questions about his views on Trump’s proposal.
But he questioned how to make Trump’s call for Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians work in a way “that is best for everybody”, adding that Arab states would present their own plan for Gaza.
Trump appeared to roll back his threat to withhold aid to Jordan and Egypt, saying: “I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that.”
He described Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, as “bullies,” adding: “I think they want to play tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are.”
After his meeting with Trump, King Abdullah said on X: “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”
He urged US leadership on achieving a “just peace” based on the two state solution.
Trump’s officials helped broker the multi-stage ceasefire deal for Gaza, which called for an initial 42-day truce under which 33 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel would be released in small groups each week.
In return, Israel agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into the shattered territory.
But Hamas alleges that Israel has delayed the entry of aid, including tents and temporary shelters, and that Israeli troops have fired on Gazans returning to their homes in the north of the territory.
Concerns have also been expressed that Israel has not begun talks over the second phase of the deal, despite the agreement calling for them to have started last week.
That stage is supposed to lead to a permanent end to the war, the full withdrawal of Israel’s troops from Gaza and the release of dozens of remaining Israeli hostages.
But Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out agreeing to end the conflict and has delayed sending his negotiators to Doha.
At Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Israeli ministers “welcomed [Trump’s] revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza” and blamed Hamas for violating the agreement.
One Israeli official said: “There will be no progress in the further implementation of the agreement and in negotiations on stage two [of the deal] without the return of our hostages.
“The cabinet expects the release of all nine ‘stage one’ hostages [who are still alive] within a few days.”
So far, 16 Israeli hostages have been released in five rounds, in addition to five Thai workers who were captured by Hamas.
The Israeli military said late on Tuesday that it had sent reinforcements, including reservists, to the Gaza border region and had put its forces on the highest alert “in preparation for various scenarios”.
Relatives of those Israelis still held hostage in Gaza implored Netanyahu to not backslide into war, and to speed up the ceasefire agreement.
“We must not go backwards. We cannot allow the hostages to waste away in captivity,” they said in a statement.
