Hamas said Monday it was suspending the upcoming hostage release in the Gaza Strip, blaming Israel for not following the terms of a ceasefire agreement that paused the 15-month war in the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, cited alleged Israeli violations of the deal over the past three weeks, including delaying the return of displaced people to northern Gaza, not allowing aid to enter the enclave, and shelling and gunfire in various areas of the strip.
As a result, the handover of hostages scheduled for Saturday “will be postponed until further notice” and until Israel “commits to and compensates for the past weeks retroactively,” Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said via social media.
The announcement triggered alarm among families of hostages, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum appealing for help from countries mediating the next and second stage of the ceasefire.
“Recent evidence from those released, as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt — time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation,” the group said.
Over the weekend, at Saturday’s hostage release — the fifth since the ceasefire agreement began Jan. 19 — Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami looked frail and weak.
Qatar, the United States and Egypt have helped mediate the talks between Israel and Hamas, with negotiators due to hammer out details of the deal's second phase now.
Israeli officials denounced Hamas' announcement, with Defense Minister Israel Katz calling it “a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
“I have instructed the IDF to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza and to protect the communities,” he said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
Opposition politician Avigdor Lieberman called for aid to be cut off to Gaza if Hamas did not release hostages Saturday.
“No trucks will enter the Gaza Strip. No food, no water, no electricity, and no fuel,” he said on X.
Hundreds of trucks of aid have flowed into the shattered enclave daily since the truce went into effect in January, and any cutoff would have a devastating impact on Palestinian civilians.
Hamas' announcement will worsen the uncertainty surrounding the fragile ceasefire, as well as not only the future of the hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees who are due to be released in exchange, but also the next steps for the region as a whole.
President Donald Trump said Monday night that if all the hostages are not returned by noon Saturday, Israel should "cancel" the ceasefire and that "all hell is going to break out."
"If they're not returned, all of them — not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o'clock. And after that, I would say all hell is going to break out,” Trump told reporters after signing executive orders in the Oval Office.
House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the U.S. Capitol Friday to ensure the longstanding alliance between the U.S. and Israel would continue.
Asked to elaborate on what that would mean, Trump told reporters, "You'll find out."
"They'll find out, too. Hamas will find out what I mean," Trump said. "These are sick people, and they'll find out what I mean Saturday at 12."
Trump last week was condemned across the Middle East after he floated a plan for the United States to take control of Gaza — and turn it into the “riviera of the Middle East.” In an interview with Fox News set to air Monday, he said that under the plan, Palestinians in Gaza would not have a right to return to their home after the enclave was rebuilt.
“We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities — could be five, six, could be two, but we’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” Trump said in the Fox interview.
After Trump’s initial comments last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Trump was “committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating” Palestinians during those reconstruction efforts.
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan on Monday rejected what he called the “Israeli-American vision” for Palestinians, condemning Trump’s statements about Gaza, saying they revealed “his real estate view of homelands.”
Hamdan doubled down on the decision to postpone the handover of Israeli hostages, saying it “came as a result of the occupation’s disruption of 90% of the humanitarian protocol.”
According to local health officials, close to 48,000 people have died in the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack in which Israeli officials say 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
Raquel Coronell Uribe contributed.
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