Israel threatened to launch a "new war" against Hamas and implement US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza if militants from the group, designated a terrorist group by the US and EU, do not release hostages this weekend.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's comments came shortly after the Palestinian group Hamas said it would not give in to US and Israeli "threats" over the release of hostages as part of a fragile ceasefire deal.
Mediators Qatar and Egypt are trying to salvage the ceasefire agreement that came into effect last month, according to a Palestinian source and a diplomat familiar with the talks, AFP reports, while Hamas said its chief negotiator was in Cairo.
The ceasefire has halted most of the fighting that lasted more than 15 months and has led to the release of small groups of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.
But the deal, currently in its first 42-day phase, is coming under increasing pressure.
The warring parties, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the ceasefire, have exchanged accusations of violating it, fueling concerns that violence could resume.
Katz said Israel would resume the war if Hamas did not release the hostages by Saturday, when a sixth exchange of hostages and prisoners was scheduled under the terms of the agreement.
Hamas has said it will delay the release of the hostages, citing Israeli violations, and hours later, Trump warned that "all hell" would break loose if the Palestinian militants did not release "all" of the hostages by then.
If fighting resumes, Katz said that "the new war in Gaza... will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all hostages."
"It will also enable the realization of US President Trump's vision for Gaza," he added.
Israel has repeatedly promised to defeat Hamas and release all hostages, since the Palestinian group's attack on October 7, 2023, that sparked the war.
Analyst Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group told AFP that, despite their public disagreements, the warring parties are still interested in preserving the ceasefire and have not "given up anything yet".
"They're just playing power games," she said.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem warned that the hostages would not be released without Israel's compliance with the agreement.
"Our position is clear, and we will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats," Qassem said, after Netanyahu threatened to "resume intense fighting" if the hostages are not released by Saturday.
Last week's release of the hostages sparked outrage in Israel and beyond after Hamas paraded the three weakened hostages in front of a crowd and forced them to speak, while Hamas has accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments.
Hamas has insisted it remains "committed to the ceasefire" and said its chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, was in Cairo on Wednesday for meetings and to monitor "the implementation of the ceasefire agreement."
Al-Qahera News, affiliated with the Egyptian state, citing an Egyptian official, said that mediators in Cairo and Doha are "intensifying their diplomatic efforts in an attempt to save the Gaza ceasefire agreement."
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and "avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza."
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage and prisoner exchanges, has urged the parties to maintain the ceasefire.
"Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on this," including "all remaining hostages" and Palestinians who "need a break from violence and access to life-saving humanitarian assistance," the Red Cross statement said.
Trump had proposed taking control of Gaza and relocating its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt -- a plan that experts say would violate international law but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called "revolutionary."
Israeli Defense Minister Katz last week ordered the military to prepare for “disengagements” from Gaza. The military has announced that it has begun reinforcing troops around Gaza.
Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 who the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,222 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures the United Nations considers reliable from the Hamas-run territory's Health Ministry./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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