‘Open gates of hell if no Israeli hostages freed’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Hamas with resumption of fighting in Gaza as a cabinet member urged him to “open the gates of hell” if Israel doesn’t get back “all the hostages... by Saturday.”

“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated,” Netanyahu warned on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician, urged the prime minister to “open the gates of hell” or unleash a powerful and destructive force, and demanded the “full occupation of the Gaza Strip” and an end to all humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.

Hamas has said it would postpone the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the deal and calling for it to fulfill its obligations.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments under the agreement and cited the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend.

But the group said “the door remains open” for the release to go ahead “once the occupation complies.”

Under the Hamas-Israel truce, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, captives were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps.

The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the war has killed at least 48,219 people in the territory, figures the UN considers reliable.

Meanwhile, relatives of four Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that former captives recently freed under a truce deal had told them that their loved ones were alive.

For the families, it was the first sign of life in many months from their loved ones.

But the details of their conditions in captivity were also a cause for concern.