Hamas said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump’s demand that the terror group release all its hostages by noon Saturday — or “all bets are off” — “further complicates matters” relating to the fragile Gaza truce, after the terror group announced Monday that it would delay the next scheduled hostage release over alleged Israeli violations of the deal.
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP, referring to the hostages.
“The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters,” he added.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, Trump said, “As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out.”
His comments — which drew praise from the Israeli far right, including some hostages’ families — came hours after Hamas announced that it intended to delay the next release of hostages planned for Saturday, “until further notice.”
The terror group justified the move by alleging Israeli violations of the deal, claiming falsely that the military has obstructed displaced Palestinians’ return to the northern Strip, and vaguely asserting without evidence that Israel has prevented the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release all its hostages, Israel to release thousands of Palestinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and a halt to fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a “sustainable calm” and IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday urged the terror group, as well as Israel, to abide by the agreement, writing on X: “We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to immense tragedy. I appeal to Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages. Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and resume serious negotiations.”
The 17 hostages slated to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal as of February 8, 2025 after the first five rounds saw 16 captives freed. Row 1 (L-R): Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Sasha Trufanov; Row 2: Shlomo Mansour, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Tsahi Idan; Row 3: Hisham al-Sayed, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert; Row 4: Itzik Elgarat, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov. (All photos courtesy)
There are currently 17 hostages, living and dead, still set to return amid the deal’s ongoing 42-day first phase.
Negotiations on the agreement’s second phase — to include the return of the remaining 59 hostages, the release of many more Palestinian security prisoners, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and a permanent ceasefire — were meant to begin last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent days made comments that seem to suggest a resumption of fighting with Hamas will take place rather than continuing to the second phase of the deal, while Trump has insisted that all the hostages must be released and called for an American takeover of the enclave and the forced resettlement of all of its residents once the war is over.
Far right backs ultimatum
Israeli far-right leaders on Tuesday embraced the US president’s suggested ultimatum.
“Everybody, now,” tweeted Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has threatened to withdraw from the coalition, thereby depriving it of its majority, if Israel sees the deal through to its full implementation rather than resuming the war. The phrase is one that has been adopted as a chant at weekly protests calling for the release of the hostages.
Minister of finance and head of the Religious Zionist Party Bezalel Smotrich leads a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Otzma Yehudit leader MK Itamar Ben Gvir — who withdrew from the government last month in protest of the deal, but has suggested he’d return if Israel resumes the war — wrote, “Trump is correct. Return to destroying [Hamas] now.”
The Tikva Forum, which represents a hawkish minority of hostages’ families, welcomed Trump’s suggestion, and urged the government to back the US president’s ultimatum, calling it “an opportunity that won’t repeat itself.”
“It is incumbent on the government of Israel today to name a date after which, if all the hostages — the living and the dead together — don’t return, there will be no more Gaza,” the forum said in a statement.
“We in the Tikva Forum warned of the extortion Hamas is engaging in; when we take part in staged releases and give up on all our levers of pressure, Hamas recognizes its position of power and takes advantage of it,” the statement continued.
“What we saw [on Saturday] was just a preview of what’s waiting for us in the coming weeks, at a time when our hostages are dying of hunger in tunnels,” the group added, referring to the emaciated appearance of the three hostages — Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56 — whom Hamas released on Saturday in exchange for 183 security prisoners, 18 of whom were serving life sentences.
Families of hostages and slain soldiers, from the Tikva Forum, hold a press conference at the Knesset on January 13, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“Now, the time has come to return them all, at any price,” the Tikva Forum said, alluding to a slogan that the hostages must be brought home even at a heavy security cost — “but Hamas will pay it.”
“No humanitarian aid. No electricity. No water. All the gates of hell opened,” the forum said, adding: “In the Middle East there are no negotiations, only ultimatums.”
IDF ups readiness, cancels event on Gaza border
Meanwhile, the IDF said Monday night it raised its level of alert and canceled furlough for troops in the Southern Command, following a fresh assessment held by the IDF after Hamas’s announcement it would delay the hostage release.
Combat soldiers and other essential units will remain deployed to the area and will not be granted leave, the military said.
Additionally, the IDF said it was “significantly” bolstering forces to carry out defensive missions on the Gaza border.
A short while later, the military announced it was canceling a tree-planting event planned for Tuesday morning near the border with Gaza.
The event, organized by the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) near Be’eri, was going to dedicate a new forest commemorating those killed during the October 7 onslaught and in the war. Hundreds of bereaved families were set to participate.
The IDF noted that there were no other changes to guidelines for civilians.
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