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(by Ronny Reyes, Caitlin Doornbos, NY Post) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given Hamas an ultimatum: Release all hostages still in Gaza by noon Saturday, or the Jewish state will unleash a ferocious new phase of the war.
The new demand Tuesday to return all 31 [living] hostages being held in the Palestinian territory, along with the bodies of 36 others, [follows] President Trump’s call a day earlier for Hamas to free every hostage or he would “let hell break loose” on the terror group.
Netanyahu warned that “intense fighting” would begin immediately in Gaza if Hamas does not comply, and that Israel was already amassing forces on the border of the Palestinian territory.
“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,” the premier said in a statement.
It all comes after Hamas [violated the cease-fire agreement by] ordering a halt on the [agreed to] hostage exchanges Monday after it [falsely] claimed that Israel has violated the cease-fire agreement — which experts say is a naked attempt to get more concessions out of the Jewish state.
Netanyahu’s statement came after a cabinet meeting in which Israeli officials discussed Hamas’ [false] allegations and the terror group’s refusal to release the nine remaining [living] hostages who are part of the first phase of the cease-fire deal. [The other 8 to be released in phase one are believed to be dead.].
While Netanyahu had originally called on Hamas to just release the next three hostages by Saturday, as per the original cease-fire deal, the premier then asked for all nine living hostages of the first phase to be freed.
Hours later, Israeli officials said Netanyahu upped his demands to match with Trump’s ultimatum, the Times of Israel reports.
An Israeli official told [the Times] that Netanyahu was purposefully avoiding the phrase “all the hostages” in public statements so as to allow Israel to have some leverage in the negotiations.
The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] said Tuesday that they are currently bolstering their forces in the Southern Command, which oversees the Gaza border.
“The reinforcements of troops and mobilization of reservists are being carried out in preparation for various scenarios,” an IDF statement said.
The Israeli deadline matched the one given by Trump, who warned that he would “let hell break out” if Hamas did not release the hostages.
“I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday,” Trump said. “And if they’re not returned — all of them, not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two – by Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump reaffirmed the deadline during a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Crown Prince Al Hussein on Tuesday.
The president has said that he would leave the final decision to Israel, giving the Jewish state the ability to overrule his demands.
Hamas scoffed at Trump’s ultimatum as the terror group claimed the cease-fire is the only way for the remaining hostages to be freed.
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to bring back the (Israeli) prisoners. The language of threats has no value and only complicates matters,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Joe Truzman, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defending Democracy, said Hamas’ threats were a ploy to get the US and Israel “to make additional concessions to expedite the release of the hostages.”
“Hamas is capitalizing on the public outrage generated by the distressing images of emaciated hostages to amplify pressure on the Israeli government for further concessions,” Truzman said in a statement.
“Hamas is executing a strategy to assert dominance over the hostage negotiations and the situation in the Gaza Strip,” he added.
Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the FDD and former White House National Security Council staffer, warned that the goal of the cease-fire disruption would be to see the fighting restart, which he said would benefit both Hamas and their backers in Tehran.
Goldberg told The Post that Trump doesn’t have to send troops to Gaza to threaten Hamas, as the president has plenty of alternative methods to punish the terror group should they fail to meet the deadline.
“Just on Hamas, [Trump could] go after their assets that we have not gone after in the region that might be held in Qatar or Turkey or other places in the Middle East; give authorization to go hunt down Hamas leaders wherever they live, whether it’s in Gaza or not in Gaza and support Israel in doing that,” he said.
“Just because Hamas leaders today enjoy safe harbor in Qatar doesn’t mean they would enjoy safe harbor [in] Qatar tomorrow,” Goldberg added.
Published at NYPost .com on Feb. 11. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
1. What ultimatum did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give Hamas on Tuesday? Be specific.
2. What ultimatum/warning did President Trump give prior to that (on Monday)?
b) Watch the video. Why did President Trump issue this ultimatum?
3. What did Netanyahu say will ultimately happen if Hamas does not release the hostages on Saturday?
4. What announcement did Hamas first make on Monday (two days after the well-fed terrorists released three severely emaciated Israeli hostages in a demeaning “release ceremony” on a stage in front of a thousand jeering Palestinians)?
5. Ask a parent: what effect do you think President Trump’s warning had on Hamas? and on Israeli leaders?
6. Israel has given an ultimatum to Hamas. Who do you think will win in the end – the Hamas terrorists or Israel? Explain your answer.
We pray for the safe release of the remaining hostages.
Background
Hamas’ Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obeida announced earlier Monday that Hamas was cancelling the scheduled hostage release for this weekend, falsely claiming that Israel had not lived up to its side of the deal.
“The release of the Zionist prisoners next Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation [Israel] commits to and provides compensation for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively… We reaffirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement, as long as the occupation [Israel] remains committed to them.”
Abu Obeida said that Israel had violated multiple parts of the truce, which was brokered between the two sides over many months.
“Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership [Hamas] monitored the enemy’s violations and their non-compliance with the terms of the agreement,” he said.
“These violations include delaying the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the Gaza Strip, and failing to allow the entry of relief materials in all forms as agreed upon. Meanwhile, the resistance [Hamas] has fulfilled all its obligations.”
Hamas’ propaganda office in Gaza also accused Israel on Monday of not sending adequate humanitarian supplies to the Mediterranean territory — especially in the north, where much of the infrastructure is destroyed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz criticized Hamas’ message as an “outright violation of the cease-fire,” denied the validity of the accusations made against Israel, and listed all of the aid shipments that Israel sent, including to the north.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ultimatum followed an “in-depth, four-hour discussion” by the Israeli cabinet, he wrote.
“We all expressed outrage at the shocking state of our three hostages who were freed last Saturday. We all also welcomed President Trump’s demand for the release of our hostages by noon on Saturday,” the prime minister wrote.
He has ordered the IDF to amass forces in and around the Gaza Strip “in light of Hamas’s statement about its decision to violate the [ceasefire] agreement,” Netanyahu said.
This action is being carried out and would be completed shortly, he added.
Resources
On Monday (Feb. 10) President Trump said all hostages must be released by noon on Saturday (Feb. 15):
Daily “Answers” emails are provided for Daily News Articles, Tuesday’s World Events and Friday’s News Quiz.
