While mediators were working to preserve a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Israel called up military reservists and the nation’s defense minister echoed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that “all hell would break out” if hostages were not released Saturday.
A Hamas official told The Associated Press there were positive signals three hostages would be released as planned, but the group was waiting to hear if Israel would honor the current ceasefire agreement.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to preserve the truce, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV, which is close to the country’s security agencies.
An Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said the two sides were working on a deal to preserve the ceasefire, AP reported.
The monthlong ceasefire came under threat earlier this week when Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization, accused Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire by continuing airstrikes on people in Gaza and blocking aid. The group said future hostage releases would be postponed.
According to Hamas, 92 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began and more than 800 have been wounded. Israel said people have been shot if they approached troops or entered certain areas in violation of the agreement.
The United Nations said 1.2 million people have been fed and more than 600,000 have received shelter since the ceasefire began Jan. 19.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting would resume if more captives were not freed on Saturday, and Trump said Monday that “all hell would break out” if hostages were not returned.
On Wednesday, after Israel called up military reservists, the country’s Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated Trump’s warning.
“If Hamas stops the hostage releases, then there is no ceasefire and there is war,” he said. He added that the fighting would be more intense and would “allow the realization of Trump’s vision for Gaza.”
Trump has discussed a plan under which the United States would take over Gaza and Palestinians would have no right to return. Other countries in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have rejected the idea.
“Hamas … will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats,” Hamas spokesperson Hazaem Qassem said in a statement. “Contacts are underway with mediator countries to conclude the implementation of the ceasefire deal.”
The U.S. president’s vision has elicited anger from the Arab world.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit rejected any plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, saying Wednesday that such resettlement would be “unacceptable.”
Aboul Gheit told the World Governments Summit that the proposal to move the roughly 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza would push the region into a cycle of crises with a “damaging effect on peace and stability.”
“It’s unacceptable for the Arab world, which has fought this idea for 100 years,” Aboul Gheit said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said after talks Tuesday with Trump that he reiterated his country’s “steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
“Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah said on X.
He highlighted what he said was Trump’s “instrumental” role in securing a ceasefire in Gaza and called on the United States and all stakeholders to ensure the halt in fighting holds.
Since the ceasefire took effect last month, Hamas has freed 21 hostages and Israel has released more than 730 prisoners. The next exchange on Saturday calls for the release of three more Israelis in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the October 2023 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of 250 hostages. Israel’s counteroffensive killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. Israel says the death toll includes 17,000 militants it has killed.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
