The Japan Times - Hamas says committed to truce as mediators push for Israeli hostage release

Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the ceasefire which was plunged into uncertainty after Hamas warned it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations.

Israel hit back, saying that if Hamas failed to free captives on schedule, it would resume its war in Gaza.

"We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it. Mediators are pressuring (Israel) to complete the full implementation of the agreement, oblige the occupation to abide by the humanitarian protocol, and resume the exchange process on Saturday," Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said.

A Palestinian source said mediators had obtained from Israel a "promise... to put in place a humanitarian protocol starting from this morning".

Egyptian state-linked media said construction equipment, including bulldozers and trucks carrying mobile homes, was ready to enter Gaza from Egypt on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump had warned that "hell" would break loose if the Palestinian militant group failed to release "all" the hostages by noon on Saturday.

If fighting resumes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said, "the new Gaza war... will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages."

"It will also allow the realisation of US President Trump's vision for Gaza," he added.

Trump, whose return to the White House has emboldened the Israeli far-right, sparked global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.

- 'Power games' -

The hints of progress came as mediators Qatar and Egypt pushed to salvage the ceasefire agreement that came into effect last month, while Hamas said its top negotiator was in Cairo.

The truce, currently in its first phase, has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The warring sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and "avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza".

Israel has repeatedly vowed to defeat Hamas and free all the hostages since the Palestinian group's October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war.

Analyst Mairav Zonszein of International Crisis Group said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not "given up on anything yet".

"They're just playing power games," she told AFP.

- 'Lives depend on it' -

In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway near commercial hub Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected, an AFP photographer said.

Israeli student Mali Abramovitch, 28, said that it was "terrible to think" that the next group of hostages would not be released "because Israel allegedly violated the conditions, which is nonsense".

Last week's hostage release sparked anger in Israel and beyond after Hamas paraded three emaciated hostages before a crowd and forced them to speak. Hamas, meanwhile, has accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments under the agreement.

In southern Gaza's Khan Yunis, 48-year-old Saleh Awad told AFP he felt "anxiety and fear", saying that "Israel is seeking any pretext to reignite the war... and displace" the territory's inhabitants.

Hamas has insisted it remains "committed to the ceasefire", and said its chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was in Cairo on Wednesday for meetings and to monitor "the implementation of the ceasefire agreement".

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage-prisoner swaps, urged the parties to maintain the truce.

"Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it," including "all of the remaining hostages" and Gazans who "need respite from violence and access to life-saving humanitarian aid", the ICRC said.

- Trump's plan -

Trump's proposal for Gaza and for moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt would, according to experts, violate international law, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it "revolutionary".

Hamas called for worldwide "solidarity marches" over the weekend to denounce "the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land".

Defence Minister Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for "voluntary" departures from Gaza. The military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around Gaza.

Trump reaffirmed his Saturday deadline for the hostage release while hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday.

In a phone call Wednesday, Abdullah and Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said they were united in supporting the "full implementation" of the ceasefire, "the continued release of hostages and prisoners, and facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid".

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,222 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

burs-ser/dv

K.Yamaguchi--JT