Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not release more hostages by noon on Saturday, endorsing a threat by Donald Trump that could shatter the three-week-old ceasefire between the two sides.
Netanyahu’s ultimatum was delivered during a video address posted to social media account on Tuesday. “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” he said.
Netanyahu says 'ceasefire will end' if hostages are not released by Saturday at noon – video It came a day after Trump told reporters: If all the Gaza hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12pm, I would say cancel the ceasefire. Let all hell break loose.”
Netanyahu’s threat came as Trump hosted King Abdullah of Jordan at the White House on Tuesday for a tense meeting, where the two were to discuss the ceasefire and Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza and expel the region’s more than 2 million Palestinians. Trump has said that he could withhold aide from Jordan and Egypt, two US allies, unless they agree to his plan.
In a quick back-and-forth with reporters before a closed-door meeting with Abdullah, Trump in effect endorsed an Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank and said there was “no reason to buy Gaza” because “we’re going to take it”.Asked whether Saturday remained his deadline for Hamas to deliver all the hostages, Trump replied: “Yes.”
It was not clear whether Netanyahu is also demanding that all 76 captives still held in Gaza be released, or just the three hostages scheduled for release on Saturday under the ceasefire. The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for further information.
You can read more of the report by Andrew Roth in Washington and Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem at the link below.
Israel will resume war in Gaza unless more hostages freed this week, says Netanyahu
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