LAST UPDATE | 10 Feb

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has threatened that “hell” will break out if Hamas does not release hostages back to Israel.

Hamas announced earlier that it was indefinitely postponing the next hostage-prisoner exchange under a fragile truce agreement with Israel, accusing Israel of failing to comply with ceasefire terms.

In a statement, a Hamas spokesperson claimed that over the past three weeks, violations by Israel had included “delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, and targeting them with shelling and gunfire”.

“The release of the prisoners (Israeli hostages)… will be postponed until further notice, pending the occupation’s compliance and retroactive fulfillment of the past weeks’ obligations,” Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

“We reaffirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation adheres to them,” Ubaida added.

Responding to the move, Trump said this evening that if every Israeli hostage was not released from Gaza by Saturday, “all hell” would break out.

Trump said he would recommend the ceasefire should be cancelled if all Israeli hostages were not released by noon on Saturday.

The next release of Israeli hostages was due to take place on Saturday.

It would have seen another three Israelis, taken hostage in the 7 October 2023 attacks, freed by Hamas.

In return, Israel would have released a number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, as part of the ceasefire agreement which began last month.

Such exchanges have taken place regularly since then.

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, the first phase of which came into effect on January 19, a total of 33 Israeli hostages were to be released in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “all the families of the hostages were informed this evening of Hamas’s announcement.”

“The families were made aware that the State of Israel is committed to respecting the agreement and considers any violation of it with the utmost seriousness,” the statement said.

The Hostage Families Forum, an Israeli campaign group, said it had “requested assistance from the mediating countries to help restore and implement the existing deal effectively”.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz slammed the Hamas announcement this afternoon, saying that it was a “violation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

“Hamas’ announcement to stop releasing Israeli hostages is a complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and the deal to release the hostages. I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.

Additional reporting by AFP.