Israel says Hamas must release three hostages on Saturday under terms of ceasefire deal or war will resume
Julian Borger
The Israeli government has signalled that it intends to stick to the hostage-release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three hostages are not released on Saturday, it would go back to war.
The statement on Thursday from the prime minister’s office ends two days of confusion following Donald Trump’s declaration that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining 76 hostages by Saturday, and failing that, end the ceasefire.
Since Trump’s remarks on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government has been vague on how many hostages it wanted released on Saturday, but a spokesperson, David Mencer, has now confirmed that the Israeli demand was for three hostages as laid out in the timetable of the ceasefire agreement.
“There is a framework in place for the release of our hostages,” Mencer said. “That framework makes clear that three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.”
Earlier this week, Hamas had suggested there might be a delay in the release of the next three hostages, though reports on Thursday suggested that suggestion had been withdrawn and the agreement remained on track. Mencer said Israel would wait for the three freed hostages to reach Israeli territory before making a judgement.
“If Hamas…violate this agreement and do not release our hostages, the government has made clear that it has instructed our armed forces – and we have already amassed forces inside and surrounding Gaza – if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon the ceasefire will end and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”
Key events
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had “identified” a rocket fired from inside Gaza, which fell back to earth within the Palestinian territory, Agence France-Presse reports.
“A few minutes ago, a rocket launch was identified in the Gaza Strip. The rocket fell inside the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said in a statement before later announcing separately it “struck the launcher from which the rocket launch was identified in the Gaza Strip”.
A humanitarian catastrophe continues in the Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire agreement that brought a “much-needed respite”, the head of the United Nation’s infrastructure agency warned on Thursday.
“In addition to immense human suffering, I also witnessed an unimaginable degree of the destruction of infrastructure and houses, and an overwhelming volume of rubble,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said following a visit to Gaza.
In a post on X, he added:
Gaza is in crisis: 70% of infrastructure, 60% of homes, and 65% of roads are gone. Clearing 50M tons of rubble is urgent.
UNOPS is committed to both immediate aid and long-term rebuilding. Restoring power, water, hospitals, schools, shelters and roads for the future.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Israel says Hamas must release three hostages on Saturday under terms of ceasefire deal or war will resume
Julian Borger
The Israeli government has signalled that it intends to stick to the hostage-release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three hostages are not released on Saturday, it would go back to war.
The statement on Thursday from the prime minister’s office ends two days of confusion following Donald Trump’s declaration that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining 76 hostages by Saturday, and failing that, end the ceasefire.
Since Trump’s remarks on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government has been vague on how many hostages it wanted released on Saturday, but a spokesperson, David Mencer, has now confirmed that the Israeli demand was for three hostages as laid out in the timetable of the ceasefire agreement.
“There is a framework in place for the release of our hostages,” Mencer said. “That framework makes clear that three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.”
Earlier this week, Hamas had suggested there might be a delay in the release of the next three hostages, though reports on Thursday suggested that suggestion had been withdrawn and the agreement remained on track. Mencer said Israel would wait for the three freed hostages to reach Israeli territory before making a judgement.
“If Hamas…violate this agreement and do not release our hostages, the government has made clear that it has instructed our armed forces – and we have already amassed forces inside and surrounding Gaza – if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon the ceasefire will end and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”
Tens of thousands of Jordanians gathered at Amman’s Marka airport on Thursday to express support for King Abdullah II’s position on Gaza on his return from Washington where he met US president Donald Trump.
King Abdullah met Trump at the White House on Tuesday in a seemingly tense exchange in which the US president doubled down on a plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and send its more than two million Palestinian residents to Jordan and Egypt.
The king later released a statement in which he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank”.
Despite the cold and rain, crowds of men, women and children gathered on the airport road all the way to Raghadan Palace stretching for seven kilometres (four miles), with police and royal guards deployed heavily, Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographers said.
Many raised placards with messages expressing support for the monarch, including one reading “We are with you”, alongside pictures of Crown Prince Hussein, who had accompanied his father on the trip, in military uniform. Both the king and the crown prince could be seen waving at the crowds from inside their car, according to AFP.
Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza has sparked widespread backlash across the region and beyond, with several Arab countries strongly condemning the prospect of displacing Gaza’s Palestinian residents.
In Amman on Thursday, Jordanians echoed their sovereign’s position, raising signs reading “Jordan is for the Jordanians and Palestine is for the Palestinians” and “No to the displacement of our brothers”.
About half of Jordan’s population of 11 million people is of Palestinian origin, reports AFP
Majed al-Faoury, who was standing in the crowd, told AFP “we came from across Jordan to stand behind” the king’s position, “which is non-negotiable”. He added: “No to settlement, no to displacement, no to an alternative homeland.”
Yemen’s Houthis say they will carry out attacks if US and Israel attack Gaza
Yemen’s Houthis say they will immediately take military action if the US and Israel attack Gaza, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Trump has said he would cancel the Gaza ceasefire deal and “let all hell break loose” if all Israeli hostages were not released by Hamas on Saturday.
Andrew Roth
During the first Trump administration, Mike Pence, the vice-president, pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly through USAid and the state department, to help Christians and other religious minorities who were persecuted by Islamic State and – in the case of the Yazidis – suffered a genocide.
But under the second Trump administration, the same figures who championed the rights of religious minorities have fallen silent or actively participated in the destruction of USAid, cutting crucial aid to support the same communities they once helped – who now feel abandoned by the US.
That has had an immediate effect on the ground, according to activists and current and former USAid employees, who said the cutoff in aid had paused work among still traumatised communities and sown a feeling of betrayal 10 years after the genocide.
In Sinjar, the Iraqi town where thousands were massacred by IS, the freeze has halted operations to provide water and electricity, primary healthcare centres, the construction of schools, community centres and other basic infrastructure at a time when thousands of Yazidis are returning home after more than a decade in Syrian refugee camps. In one case, electricity transformers already delivered had to be put into storage because of the stop-work order, leaving a community without reliable electricity.
“It was a shock that USAid was frozen for helping those communities that the US had helped to survive. [Before], US help was omnipresent,” said Mirza Dinnayi, a prominent Yazidi human rights activists who runs the House of Co-Existence (HOC) multicultural community centre in Sinjar.
He said that USAid, which provided the vast majority of humanitarian funding to the area, had been was a “pillar of stabilisation and normalisation”.
Here are some more images coming in today via the newswires:
We reported earlier that, according to state-linked Egyptian media, dozens of pieces of heavy machinery, including bulldozers and construction equipment, were lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing ahead of their entry into Gaza.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer has also confirmed seeing the vehicles, including trucks carrying caravans, waiting at the border.
However, an Israeli government spokesperson said heavy machinery would not be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
“There is no entry of caravans (mobile homes) or heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, and there is no coordination for this,” Omer Dostri, a spokesperson for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote on X. “According to the agreement, no goods are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing,” he added, reports AFP.
Under an ongoing truce agreement, Rafah has been opened for evacuation of the injured and sick. Other aid is also allowed to enter the territory via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“We stand behind them (Palestinians) and hopefully better days are ahead,” Ahmed Abdel Dayem, a driver at the border, told an AFP reporter.
Egypt will host a summit of Arab nations later this month and announced this week that it would present a “comprehensive vision” for Gaza’s reconstruction in a way that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
Ohad Ben Ami, an Israeli hostage released by Hamas at the weekend, has left hospital, and was greeted by schoolchildren as he arrived near a home his family have rented in Tel Aviv.
Hebrew media outlet Ynet quotes the 55-year-old saying to the children “Keep fighting, until everyone returns home, well done to you.”
His wife, who was also kidnapped during the 7 October attack and released during the brief 2023 ceasefire, said “We are happy.”
Ynet also quotes the couple’s daughter, Ella, who said “We see the people of Israel, and that’s what’s important. It’s a little hard not to return to the kibbutz yet, but we will continue the struggle until all the abductees return.”
Or Levy, 34, and Eli Sharabi, 55, who were also released at the weekend, remain in hospital.
Earlier on Thursday, also in Tel Aviv, protesters calling for the return of hostages blocked a road.
Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said two people had been taken to hospital after being beaten by Israeli forces at a checkpoint north of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
