Baku, TurkicWorld
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip unless its hostages in Gaza are released.
The ceasefire has been called into question as Hamas claims Israel violated key provisions, prompting it to call off the release of three more hostages on Saturday, TurkicWorld reports citing Al-Awsat.
US President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to call for the release of remaining hostages, rather than the three scheduled to be freed in the next exchange.
He said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 hostages held by Hamas aren’t freed by Saturday.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu has ordered the army to beef up troops in and around Gaza after Hamas threatened to call off Saturday’s exchange.
The official said Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday.”
The preparation plans come after Netanyahu met with his Security Cabinet for four hours on Tuesday to discuss Hamas’ threat, which has put the fragile ceasefire agreement in danger.
Under the ceasefire, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for Palestinian prisoners. But it said Monday it was delaying the next release after accusing Israel of failing to allow enough aid into Gaza under the deal.
The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting, was not clear if Netanyahu’s order referred to all hostages, or the three scheduled for release on Saturday.
