Israel threatens ‘all hell will break loose’ on Hamas in latest Gaza cease-fire crisis

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday vowed that “all hell will break loose” on Hamas if it fails to free hostages this weekend as planned, stepping up threats against the militant group as mediators worked to salvage their cease-fire.

There were signs that the gaps could be bridged. The dispute was sparked when Hamas accused Israel of failing to meet some commitments under the truce, including the delivery of tents and other aid, and announced it would delay the next hostage release on Saturday.

Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi said there were “positive signals” the three hostages would be released as planned on Saturday but the group had not yet received a commitment from Israel that it would adhere to the deal.

An Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks said the two sides were close to an agreement. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Israel had committed to delivering more tents, shelters and heavy equipment to Gaza.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment. Israel says it is fulfilling its obligations under the deal, which went into effect on Jan. 19 and has paused the 16-month war in Gaza, bringing respite to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

In the cease-fire’s current first stage, which is to last 42 days, Israel is to deliver large quantities of aid. Hamas is meant to free 33 hostages taken during its cross-border massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. Eight of them are said to be dead. Twenty-one have been released so far, along with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody.

Hamas’ threat to delay the hostage release sparked fury from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to resume the fighting if Hamas didn’t follow through. He ordered troops to be strengthened around Gaza after having pulled back from the territory’s populated areas following the cease-fire.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was echoing President Trump by threatening that “all hell will break loose” if there is no hostage release on Saturday as planned.

“If Hamas stops releasing the hostages, then there is no deal and there is war,” he said during a visit to a military command center. He said the “new Gaza war” wouldn’t end until Hamas was defeated, which would allow for Trump’s “vision” on transferring Gaza’s population to neighboring countries to be realized.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem rejected “the language of U.S. and Israeli threats” and called on Israel to implement the terms of the cease-fire deal.

The cease-fire’s stability has also been rocked by Trump, who has proposed relocating Palestinians out of Gaza to neighboring Arab countries so the U.S. can “own” and rebuild the territory — not necessarily for its current inhabitants.

Jordan and Egypt, where Trump wants Palestinians moved, have repeatedly and vehemently rejected the proposal. Jordan’s King Abdullah II did so again after his meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump has also suggested Hamas release all the hostages yet to be freed under the cease-fire’s first phase at once — which emboldened Israel to call for more hostages to be freed on Saturday. The releases have been gradual and almost weekly so far.

The latest cease-fire dispute came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin negotiations on a second phase of the deal, which would extend the truce, bring about the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and see the remaining living hostages freed.

But there appears to have been little progress on those talks.

Netanyahu is under pressure from his political partners, on whom he relies to remain in power, to resume the war after the first phase. But he also faces surging outrage from many Israelis, who are stunned by the emaciated condition of the three hostages released last Saturday and want him to follow through with the deal.

Goldenberg and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo.