Israel threatens end to ceasefire over hostage doubts

Source: OAN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will end unless Hamas returns more hostages by noon on Saturday.
“The military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” he said in a video statement.
The ceasefire has been called into question amid Hamas claims Israel violated key provisions, prompting it to cancel the release of three more hostages on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump emboldened Israel to call for the release of remaining hostages rather than the three scheduled to be freed in the next exchange.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” he said at the White House on Tuesday (AEDT).
Netanyahu’s comments came ahead of Trump’s meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House.
The king rebuffed Trump’s attempt to get him to agree to take in Palestinians who would be permanently displaced by a US push to take over the Gaza Strip.
Trump has said the United States should take over the Gaza Strip and move out its more than two million Palestinian residents so that the enclave can be turned into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
He has infuriated the Arab world by saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes under his proposal.
“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.”
Trump greeted King Abdullah and they stood together briefly before entering the White House for their meeting.
Sandwiched between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the occupied West Bank, Jordan is already home to more than two million Palestinian refugees in its population of 11 million, their status and number long providing a source of anxiety for the country’s leadership.
On Monday, Hamas said it would stop releasing Israeli hostages from Gaza until further notice, saying Israel was violating the agreement to end strikes that have pummelled the Gaza Strip.
-with AAP