LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to end the ceasefire in Gaza this weekend if Hamas does not proceed with returning hostages.

Israel intends to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas does not return hostages by noon on Saturday.

“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued after a meeting with his security cabinet.

The Israeli military has confirmed it will increase reinforcements in Gaza area after Netanyahu’s remarks.

“It was decided to increase reinforcements with additional troops, including reservists”, the military said in a statement, adding the move was “carried out in preparation for various scenarios.”

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Netanyahu to “open the gates of hell” on Hamas if it fails to release all hostages by Saturday.

In a statement, Smotrich urged Netanyahu to “inform Hamas unequivocally: Either all the hostages are released by Saturday — no more phases, no more games — or we open the gates of hell on them.”

Hamas says that it is committed to the ceasefire deal in Gaza but that Israel has failed to “abide by its commitments” under the agreement.

“Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to,” Hamas said in a statement, adding that “we affirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays.”

Tánaiste Simon Harris said he was “alarmed and concerned” at some of the language in recent days, and said that everyone “needs to put their shoulders to the wheel” to ensure that the ceasefire holds.

“The immediate focus of government and the world must continue to be the full implementation of the ceasefire and the hostage release deal,” Harris told the Dáil this afternoon.

He added that a resumption of conflict in Gaza would be “disastrous”.

Meanwhile, Egypt plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land, the Egyptian foreign ministry said late today.

The statement came a day after Trump said he could “conceivably” halt aid to Egypt and Jordan if they refuse to cooperate with his plan to take over Gaza and displace its population to their countries.

The foreign ministry said Egypt “hopes to cooperate” with Trump’s administration on the matter, with the goal of “reaching a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause”.

It said its plan would provide for the reconstruction of Gaza “in a clear and decisive manner that ensures the Palestinian people stay on their land, and in line with the legitimate and legal rights of this people”.

During a meeting with Trump in Washington DC today, Jordan’s King Abdullah II had said Egypt would present a plan that Arab leaders would discuss at coming talks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi — who exchanged invitations for state visits with Trump last month, which have not yet been scheduled — urged the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing Palestinians”.

© AFP 2025