A spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas says the group is postponing the next scheduled release of Israeli hostages, blaming what he says are Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal. Three hostages held in Gaza are due to be freed on Saturday in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz called the Hamas announcement a “complete violation of the ceasefire agreement”. Key Israeli ally US President Donald Trump has suggested the ceasefire should be cancelled if “all” the hostages held in Gaza are not returned by Saturday. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday… all of them, not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two,” he said. “I’m speaking for myself, Israel can override it.” Seventy-three hostages taken during Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, and three others taken a decade earlier, are still being held in Gaza. If hostages were not released, Trump added, “All hell is going to break out.” Katz said he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to “prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza and to protect the communities”. “We will not allow a return to the reality of 7 October,” the Israeli defence minister added.
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