Hamas Stops Hostage Release, Trump Threatens 'Destruction' in Gaza

GAZA CITY, TUESDAY — The Hamas group, on Monday (10/2/2025), announced that it would halt the release of the next Israeli hostages until further notice. This decision was made due to violations by Israel of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

After the announcement was made, in Washington, US President Donald Trump issued a threat that there would be a "devastating situation" in the Gaza Strip if all Israeli hostages were not released in the coming days. He also called for the cessation of the ceasefire if the hostages were not released by Saturday (15/2/2025) afternoon.

"As far as I know, if all the hostages are not released by Saturday at 12—I think that is the right time—I want to 'cancel (the ceasefire agreement)', the situation will become unpredictable, and let it be a total mess," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel began on January 19, 2025, after more than 15 months of conflict between them. The ceasefire is being implemented in three stages. In the first stage, over six weeks, Hamas and Israel committed to exchanging hostages and prisoners: 33 Israeli hostages were exchanged for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Until now, the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners has taken place five times. A total of 21 Israeli hostages have been exchanged for more than 730 Palestinian prisoners. During the ongoing ceasefire phase, it is hoped that negotiations discussing the second phase of the ceasefire will resume.

If an agreement is not reached in the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire, the war in Gaza could erupt again in early March 2025. However, tensions escalated once more after Trump issued a surprising proposal—while hosting Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week—that the US wants to take control of the Gaza Strip after the Palestinians are removed from the enclave.

According to the plan for implementing the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is scheduled to release Israeli hostages next Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, Abu Ubaida, stated that Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement, which includes the suspension of the return of Palestinian residents in northern Gaza, artillery fire against Palestinians, and obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. All these matters were agreed upon in the ceasefire that has been in effect since January 19, 2025.

Hamas officials accused Israel of blocking the entry of 60,000 mobile homes, 20,000 tents, fuel and heavy machinery to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings.

An official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations told Reuters news agency that Israel rejected requests from the UN, Qatar, and other parties to allow the entry of emergency housing aid for Gaza residents. However, this point had been established in the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas said it made the announcement five days before the next scheduled hostage release on Saturday (2/15/2025) to give the mediators (the US, Qatar and Egypt) a chance to pressure Israel to fulfill its obligations, as agreed. "(This is also) to keep the door open for the exchange (of hostages and prisoners) to take place on time," Hamas said.

Meanwhile, Israel accused Hamas of not respecting the guarantee of order during the release of the hostages and humiliating them in public. Israel also denied Hamas' accusations of obstructing humanitarian aid.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said Palestinians should be evacuated from the Gaza Strip. The enclave would then be taken over by the US and real estate projects built under Washington's control.

In an interview with Fox News television, which was broadcast on Monday (10/2/2025), Trump said that after being expelled from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian people would not be allowed to return to their original territory.

“I’m talking about building permanent housing for them” because it will take years to make it habitable again, Trump said.

When asked whether Palestinians have the right to return after being removed from the Gaza Strip, Trump replied, “No, they don’t because they will have better housing.”

For the Palestinian people, every attempt to move them from the Gaza Strip reminds them of the dark tragedy of 1948, the year the state of Israel was founded, when they were displaced or expelled from their homeland and their original villages. The tragedy is often referred to as the “Nakba” or catastrophe.

Trump's proposal to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has drawn widespread condemnation around the world, including from close US allies. The UN and observers have called Trump's plan a violation of international law and tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

Responding to Hamas' announcement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called it a "total violation" of the ceasefire agreement, signaling that fighting in Gaza could erupt again.

"I have instructed the IDF (Israeli military) to prepare itself at the highest level of readiness to deal with any possible scenarios in Gaza," Katz said in a written statement.

The Israeli military later said it had raised the alert level around Gaza and “decided on a significant troop deployment in the area.”

An Israeli official said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to hold a meeting of his security cabinet, which includes the defense, national security and foreign ministers. Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters that mediators were concerned about the ceasefire deal breaking down.

Netanyahu's office said Monday that the Israeli delegation was withdrawn from ceasefire talks in Qatar. It did not immediately explain why the Israeli delegation was withdrawn from the negotiating table.

A Palestinian official said progress was being hampered by a lack of trust on both sides.

Meanwhile, in a separate meeting in Washington DC, Monday (10/2/2025), Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty conveyed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Arab countries reject Trump's proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and for the US to take control of the enclave. According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, in the meeting Abdelatty emphasized the acceleration of the reconstruction of Gaza, while Palestinians remain in the territory.

The State Department statement did not explicitly mention the talks about Trump’s proposal on the Gaza Strip. It said Rubio “reiterated the importance of working closely together to advance a post-conflict plan for the governance and security of Gaza and emphasized that Hamas should never again rule Gaza or threaten Israel.”

Abdelatty also met with U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff in a separate meeting. He reiterated the same message to Witkoff, including the Arab rejection of Trump's Gaza proposal.

Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to cut off US aid to Egypt and Jordan if the two countries do not accept Palestinians who want to be removed from Gaza. This week, he is scheduled to receive Jordan's King Abdullah II in Washington DC. (AP/AFP/REUTERS)