Netanyahu’s Ultimatum: Release Hostages by Saturday or War Will Break Out

The Gaza truce is becoming increasingly fragile. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has effectively issued an ultimatum to Hamas: if it does not release the hostages by Saturday, February 15, it will have to respond to new attacks by the Israeli army.

“If Hamas does not return the hostages by noon Saturday, the ceasefire will be broken and the IDF will resume intense fighting until Hamas is finally annihilated,” Netanyahu said, adding that he had the unified opinion of the entire government on the issue. And the fact that the number of people to be released was not named was interpreted as “all hostages.”

The Israeli Prime Minister also explained that Hamas intended to “violate the agreement and not release our hostages,” and that the Israel Defense Forces had already been warned and were gathering troops around the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’s version is the opposite: it claims to have kept its promise under the ceasefire agreement, unlike Israel. “Threats complicate the situation and are inappropriate,” explained the Hamas spokesman, who reiterated “his commitment to the Gaza Strip agreement” and emphasized that “abiding by the terms of the Gaza agreement is the only way to free the hostages.”