JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that if the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas does not release prisoners by Saturday, he will end the Gaza ceasefire.
According to a Reuters report, Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement after meeting with Israel’s defense minister, foreign minister and national security minister and other key ministers and said that the ministers also supported the decision.
Netanyahu said that if Hamas does not return our prisoners by Saturday afternoon, the ceasefire will end and the Israeli army will return to war and fight until Hamas is defeated.
According to the report, Netanyahu did not clarify in his statement whether he was talking about all prisoners held by Hamas or the three prisoners released under the agreement.
The Israeli prime minister said he had ordered the army to gather in and around Gaza, and that the Israeli army had been increased in southern Israel.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, a close ally of Israel, has said that Hamas should release prisoners by Saturday.
Hamas had earlier said that the prisoners would not be released until Israel fully implemented the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas had rejected Trump’s threatening language after he threatened destruction if the prisoners were not released.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said that Trump should remember that there is an agreement that both sides must respect and that this is the only way to free Israeli prisoners.
