Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire-hostage agreement entirely if Hamas failed to free the Israeli captives by Saturday’s deadline, in response to Hamas’ recent declaration that it would not release the prisoners, alleging a “violation” of the accord.

The Israeli prime minister said that if a truce is not reached, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which have been mobilized within and beyond the Gaza Strip, would continue vigorous military operations to “finally defeat” Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister’s office shared a post on X on Tuesday, stating, “Last night, I gave the IDF instructions to gather troops within and outside the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’s statement that it would be breaking the deal and refusing to free our detainees. This activity is currently underway and will be finished shortly.”

In a subsequent tweet, it said, “The unanimous decision that I passed in the Cabinet is as follows: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, said on Monday that if all captives are not freed by the end of the week, Israel should halt the truce in Gaza and return to military action.

Trump told the press that he would talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu and that Israel could decide to ignore his ultimatum and the deadline of Saturday noon.

As far as I’m concerned, Saturday at 12 p.m. is a suitable time if none of the hostages are returned. Let hell break out, cancel it, and all bets are off, in my opinion. Trump had said, “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday,” according to the Times of Israel.

Trump’s remarks were made only hours after Hamas said that it would postpone the next delivery of Israeli detainees scheduled for Saturday “until further notice,” citing alleged Israeli breaches of the current truce agreement.

The handover of the hostages “who were scheduled to be released next Saturday… will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to and compensates for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively,” CNN reported after Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing Qassam Brigades, posted on X prior to Trump’s remarks.

He said, “We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation commits to them.”
Hamas later claimed in a statement that there was still a possibility the planned release would go forward as planned. In order to put pressure on Israel to “fully honor” the provisions of the ceasefire deal, the organization characterized the delay as a “warning” to the nation.