Middle East crisis live: fears grow for Israel-Gaza ceasefire after Netanyahu threat | Israel-Gaza war

Bethan McKernan

Hamas has said it will not release the next batch of Israeli hostages this weekend as planned, citing alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire, a development that could derail an already fragile three-week-old truce agreement.

Donald Trump further inflamed the situation by threatening that “hell is going to break out” unless Hamas releases all of the Israeli hostages it is holding on Saturday – an intervention that, along with his proposal for the US to take over and “develop” the Gaza Strip, appears to nullify the next stages of the truce.

What is supposed to happen under the ceasefire agreement?

The next exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and detainees had been set for this Saturday and would have been the sixth under the six-week-long first stage of the ceasefire deal.

Hostage-detainee swaps are due to continue on a weekly basis until 2 March. In the second stage, all remaining living hostages should be released and Israel should completely withdraw from Gaza, in effect ending the war.

Talks on the second stage were supposed to begin last week but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only authorised the Israeli team to discuss technical issues related to the first stage. Bridging proposals extending phase one of the deal are another option.

The third phase is supposed to address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza would be launched. Future governance plans remain hazy.

China on Wednesday reiterated its opposition to the “forced displacement” of Palestinians when asked about US president Donald Trump’s plan to move Gaza’s inhabitants elsewhere.

“Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is an integral part of the Palestinian territory … We oppose the forced displacement of the people of Gaza,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Displacing Palestinians from their Gaza Strip and West Bank territories is “unacceptable” to the region, Arab League secretary general Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“It’s unacceptable for the Arab world which has fought this idea for 100 years,” he said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, when asked about US president Donald Trump’s plan to move Gaza’s inhabitants.

Donald Trump has pressed Jordan’s King Abdullah to take in Palestinians who would be permanently displaced under the US president’s idea for the US to take over the Gaza Strip – even as the king said his country was firmly opposed to the move.

Speaking alongside the Arab country’s ruler in the White House, Trump signaled he would not budge on his idea that involves moving the Gaza Strip’s shell-shocked residents and transforming the war-ravaged territory into what he billed a “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Trump has infuriated the Arab world by saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes under his proposal to redevelop the territory, which has been devastated by an Israeli offensive.

The arbitrary and permanent forcible transfer of populations is considered a crime under the Geneva conventions.

“We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it. We’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East,” Trump said in the Oval Office, saying his plan would “bring peace” to the region.

King Abdullah said later that he had reiterated Jordan’s “steadfast position” against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in the occupied West Bank that borders his country.

“This is the unified Arab position,” he said in a post on X. “Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all.”

Israel will resume war in Gaza unless more hostages freed this week, says Netanyahu

Andrew Roth

Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not release more hostages by noon on Saturday, endorsing a threat by Donald Trump that could shatter the three-week-old ceasefire between the two sides.

Netanyahu’s ultimatum was delivered during a video address posted to social media account on Tuesday. “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” he said.

It came a day after Trump told reporters:

If all the Gaza hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12pm, I would say cancel the ceasefire. Let all hell break loose.”

Netanyahu’s threat came as Trump hosted King Abdullah of Jordan at the White House on Tuesday for a tense meeting, where the two were to discuss the ceasefire and Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza and expel the region’s more than 2 million Palestinians. Trump has said that he could withhold aide from Jordan and Egypt, two US allies, unless they agree to his plan.

In a quick back-and-forth with reporters before a closed-door meeting with Abdullah, Trump in effect endorsed an Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank and said there was “no reason to buy Gaza” because “we’re going to take it”.

Asked whether Saturday remained his deadline for Hamas to deliver all the hostages, Trump replied: “Yes.”

It was not clear whether Netanyahu is also demanding that all 76 captives still held in Gaza be released, or just the three hostages scheduled for release on Saturday under the ceasefire. The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

You can read more of the report by Andrew Roth in Washington and Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem at the link below.

It is approaching 9.30am in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Cairo, and 11am in Tehran.

Egypt’s foreign ministry has said it plans to present a “comprehensive vision” for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land. The statement late on Tuesday follows further comments from US president Donald Trump about his desire for the US to take over Gaza and permanently displace 2 million Palestinians living in the territory.

Cairo “hopes to cooperate” with Trump’s administration on the matter, the foreign ministry said, with the goal of “reaching a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause”.

It said its plan would provide for the reconstruction of Gaza “in a clear and decisive manner that ensures the Palestinian people stay on their land, and in line with the legitimate and legal rights of this people”.

The US president has said he could “conceivably” halt aid to Egypt and Jordan if they refuse to accept Palestinian refugees. “We contribute a lot of money to Jordan, and to Egypt by the way – a lot to both. But I don’t have to threaten that. I think we’re above that,” Trump said.

Egypt and the US exchanged invitations for state visits last month, but none have yet been scheduled.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier the establishment of a Palestinian state was “the only guarantee for achieving lasting peace” in the region, according to a statement from his office.

In other developments:

• Jordan’s King Abdullah II reacted to Trump’s latest comments on taking over Gaza by urging all sides “not to get ahead of ourselves”. During a White House press conference with the US president he said: “The president is looking at Egypt coming to present their plan, we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the president and with the United States.” He added: “So I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves.”

• Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa denounced Trump’s Gaza proposal. West Bank-based Mustafa said in a statement on Tuesday, that the Palestinian Authority “underscored the absolute rejection of all schemes to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from Gaza, as well as Israel’s annexation schemes in the West Bank, which undermine the realisation of the independent Palestinian state.” Hamas condemned Trump’s latest comments doubling down on his Gaza proposal, describing them as “racist” and “a call for ethnic cleansing”.

• Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would end the ceasefire if Hamas failed to free Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday. He said: “The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will be terminated, and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.” Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, warned it would “return to military operations and fighting” if Hamas does not release hostages.

• The UN urged Israel and Hamas to make sure the ceasefire holds as tension over a possible delay of the latest hostage release ratcheted up. The UN secretary-general António Guterres appealed to both sides to stick to their commitment. Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, according to reports. In a statement, Hamas said that it holds Israel accountable for any “complications or delays”.

• Trump has said he does not think Hamas will make the Saturday deadline for the hostage release, adding Hamas must have all hostages out by Saturday or “all bets are off”.