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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed his military to mass forces around the Gaza Strip and threatened to resume “intensive fighting” against Hamas if the Palestinian militant group failed to release Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s ultimatum on Tuesday came after Hamas’s announcement that it was delaying “until further notice” the planned release of three hostages on Saturday in protest at alleged Israeli violations of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached last month.
US President Donald Trump on Monday set a Saturday deadline for the release of “all” the Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
It was not immediately clear whether Netanyahu’s ultimatum, which followed a meeting of his security cabinet, applied to the planned release of the three Israeli hostages, or a larger number of captives.
This is a developing story.