Middle EastAnalysis

Israel threatens to resume Gaza war if Hamas delays hostage release

Netanyahu says IDF ‘will resume intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated’ if hostages not released by noon Saturday

Benjamin Netanyahu: 'Last night, I ordered the IDF to assemble forces inside and around the Gaza Strip.' Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP
Benjamin Netanyahu: 'Last night, I ordered the IDF to assemble forces inside and around the Gaza Strip.' Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP
Mark Weiss's picture
Mark Weiss in Jerusalem
Tue Feb 11 2025 - 18:35

Israel is threatening to resume the Gaza war if Hamas delays Saturday’s planned release of three more hostages.

“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday at noon, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will resume intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday, at the end of a four-hour security cabinet meeting.

“Last night, I ordered the IDF to assemble forces inside and around the Gaza Strip.”

Israel also said it expects Hamas to release the remaining nine living hostages in the coming days. They were due to be set free during the first stage of the ceasefire.

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Netanyahu’s comments came after Hamas announced that Saturday’s hostage release would be delayed. It accused Israel of delaying the return of displaced people to northern Gaza, carrying out air strikes and shootings and blocking the entry of aid, contrary to the ceasefire agreement terms.

Israel’s security cabinet also expressed support in principle for US president Donald Trump’s demand that all hostages be released by noon Saturday. It also backed what it termed his “revolutionary vision” for Gaza, which involves transferring Palestinians from the Strip.

Israel believes Hamas does not intend to derail the ceasefire entirely but is seeking to secure tactical gains in negotiations and to shore up its position ahead of talks about the second stage of the agreement.

On Monday night, Mr Trump indicated that Israel should resume the war in Gaza if all the hostages were not freed by midday noon on Saturday.

A Hamas official said all parties to the ceasefire deal must respect their commitments, saying this was the only way the hostages would return.

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich embraced Mr Trump’s comments and called for an Israeli ultimatum for Hamas to free all of the hostages this Saturday.

“Disconnect the electricity and the water and stop the humanitarian aid. We need to inform Hamas that the moment we resume the war, every hostage of ours who, heaven forbid, something happens to him – that same day we will apply sovereignty to five per cent of Gaza.”

The possibility of a delay in the release of hostages piled on the agony for their relatives, already desperate after seeing the emaciated state of the three hostages released last Saturday.

The IDF announced on Tuesday, based on intelligence collected, that Shlomo Mansour (85), the oldest of the hostages, was murdered on October 7th, the day he was kidnapped from kibbutz Kissufim, and his body was being held in Gaza.

Hundreds of protesters rallied in front of the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem and blocked the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, demanding a deal to return all the abductees.