INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume fighting Hamas
until it was defeated if the Palestinian militant group did not release hostages by midday Saturday, Reuters reported.Following Netanyahu&s
ultimatum, Hamas issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing the ceasefire.The Israeli
announcement came after Netanyahu met with several key ministers, including defence, foreign affairs and national security, who he said gave
the ultimatum their full support.After nearly 16 months of war, Hamas has gradually been releasing hostages since the first phase of a
ceasefire began on January 19, but on Monday said it would not free any more until further notice over accusations Israel was violating the
deal.&If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon & the ceasefire will end and the IDF (military) will return to intense fighting
until Hamas is finally defeated,& Netanyahu said.It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu meant Hamas should release all hostages held in
Gaza or just the three who had been expected to be released on Saturday under the ceasefire.His office did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request seeking comment on the prime minister&s remarks.U.S
President Donald Trump, a close ally of Israel, has said that Hamas should release all of the hostages by Saturday, read the report.The
prime minister also said he had ordered the military to gather forces inside and around Gaza, with the military announcing shortly after it
was deploying additional forces to Israel&s south including the mobilization of reservists.A Hamas official earlier said that Israeli
hostages could only be brought home if the ceasefire was respected, dismissing the &language of threats& after Trump said he would &let hell
break out& if they were not freed.&Trump must remember there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only
way to bring back the (Israeli) prisoners,& senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.Hamas has said Israel has violated the
ceasefire with several deadly shootings as well as by holding up some aid deliveries and impeding the return of Gazans to the strip&s
north.Israel denies holding back aid and says it has fired on people who disregarded warnings not to approach Israeli troops.So far, 16 of
33 hostages have been freed as part of the ceasefire deal&s first phase due to last 42 days
Five Thai hostages were also let go in an unscheduled release.In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and
detainees, including prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks and others detained during the war and held without charge, Reuters
reported.An Israeli group representing families of hostages urged Netanyahu to stick to the ceasefire agreement.&We must not go backwards
We cannot allow the hostages to waste away in captivity,& the hostages forum said.There are 76 hostages still held in Gaza, more than 35 of
them believed to be dead, according to Israeli media.Gaza, one of the world&s most densely populated areas, has been devastated by Israel&s
The enclave is short of food, water and shelter, and in need of billions of dollars in foreign aid.More than 48,000 Palestinians have been
killed in the war, the Gaza health ministry says, and nearly all of Gaza&s pre-war population of 2.3 million has been internally displaced
by the conflict, read the report.Some 1,200 people were killed in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities and
about 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.Trump said last week the U.S
should take over Gaza and move out more than 2 million Palestinian residents so the enclave can be developed into the &Riviera of the Middle
Netanyahu praised the plan and said on Tuesday the security cabinet endorsed it.Trump&s plan has enraged Palestinians and Arab leaders and
policy that endorsed a two-state solution in which Israel and a Palestinian state would coexist.The forcible displacement of a population
under military occupation is a war crime banned by the 1949 Geneva conventions.Trump restated his position as he met Jordan&s King Abdullah
on Tuesday at the White House amid widespread opposition to his plan among Washington&s Arab allies, including Jordan.Trump said on Tuesday
that he believed there would be a parcel of land in Jordan, Egypt and someplace else where Palestinians can be resettled.Egypt rejected any
proposal to allocate land to Gaza residents, the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reported on Tuesday, citing Egyptian sources.North
Korean state media on Wednesday denounced Trump&s Gaza proposal and accused Washington of extortion.&The world is now boiling like a
porridge pot over the U.S.& bombshell declaration,& KCNA said.Palestinians fear a repeat of what they call the Nakba, or catastrophe, when
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel&s creation
Israel denies they were forced out, Reuters reported.For Jordan, Trump&s talk of resettlement comes dangerously close to its nightmare of a
mass expulsion of Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank, echoing an idea long promoted by ultra-nationalist Israelis of Jordan
becoming an alternative Palestinian home.Gazans interviewed by Reuters criticised Trump for saying he would be prepared for &hell& to break
out if all the Israeli hostages were not released by noon on Saturday.&Hell worse than what we have already? Hell worse than killing? The
destruction, all the practices and human crimes that have occurred in the Gaza Strip have not happened anywhere else in the world,& said
Jomaa Abu Kosh, a Palestinian from Rafah in southern Gaza, standing beside demolished homes.The post Netanyahu says Israel will end Gaza
ceasefire if hostages not returned on Saturday first appeared on Ariana News.
