Hamas said Wednesday it would not bow down to threats from Israel and the United States, which demanded the group release hostages this weekend or face a return to war in Gaza.
Mediators Qatar and Egypt were pushing to salvage the ceasefire agreement, a Palestinian source and a diplomat familiar with the talks told AFP, while Hamas said its top negotiator was in Cairo.
The truce has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting and seen Israeli captives released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.
But the deal, currently in its 42-day first phase, has come under increasing strain.
The warring sides, which have yet to agree the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Wednesday that Israel was “evading the implementation of several provisions of the ceasefire agreement”, warning that hostages would not be released without Israeli compliance with the deal.
“Our position is clear, and we will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats,” said Qassem, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to “resume intense fighting” if hostages were not released by Saturday.
His threat echoed US President Donald Trump, who said on Monday that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by then. Netanyahu did not specify whether he was referring to all captives.
Hamas has said it would postpone the next hostage, release scheduled for Saturday, citing Israeli violations, and later insisted it was “committed to the ceasefire”.
Hamas accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend. AFP
