The high on fire between Israel and Hamas, in force less than a month ago, it seems about to break, which places the suffered again Gaza Strip At the doors of war.
After the threat of the Palestinian group to suspend the delivery of hostages due to what he considers breaches of what was agreed by Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamín Netanyahu gave Hamas an ultimatum and threatened to resume the armed offensive in the enclave.
“If Hamas does not return to our hostages before Saturday at noon, the high fire will end and the army will fight intensely until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday, after a long meeting of his security cabinet.
In addition, he announced the return of Israeli troops to Gaza, while the Israeli army prepares for an imminent restart of hostilities, according to international media.
“In the light of Hamas’s announcement from his decision to violate the agreement and not free our hostages, last night I ordered that the armed forces meet inside and around the Gaza Strip,” said Prime Minister, who confirmed that this operation It was already underway.
At least one dead in a drone attack by the Israeli army against the town of Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, despite the high -fire agreement. https://t.co/rz5pqhkdhb
– Efe News (@Efenoticias) February 12, 2025
Trump promises “a hell”
Netanyahu’s statements took place after Donald Trump also reacted to the previous announcement of Hamas and promised “hell” to the Islamist group.
The American president, who continues to insist that his country take control of Gaza and the Palestinians be relocated to other countries in the region, gave Israel green to resume war if Hamas does not deliver to the hostages.
“As far as I am concerned, if they do not return to all the hostages before Saturday at 12, an appropriate time, what I would say is that we cancel everything. Everything is allowed and we will let hell be unleashed, ”Trump said Tuesday, aforementioned by EFE.
“I say it in my name. Israel can do what they consider, ”said the president, who did not want to rule out that the United States could be involved in that response, says the Spanish media.
Trump, who also this Tuesday He gathered at the White House With King Abdullah II of Jordan, he said that his initiative seeks to develop the strip and create jobs, but in his vision the Palestinians should leave first, because there the conditions for their life are horrible.
Your plan, however, It has been rejected For the Arab countries and a good part of the international community, while Hamas cataloged it as “absurd” and warned that the Middle East can set up.
Hamas’s reasons
By threatening to suspend the delivery of hostages, Hamas cited as reasons violations of Tel Aviv to what was previously agreed.
Among these, he had delayed the return of the Palestinians displaced to northern Gaza, continuing to attack and killing the civilian population in the strip and just having allowed the entrance of 10 % of the 200,000 stores planned, of any prefabricated housing nor of machinery to remove debris, refers EFE.
However, the Islamist group said that “the door is still open for the exchange” of Israeli hostages by Palestinian prisoners, scheduled for this Saturday, February 15, “provided that Israel meets the deadlines and requirements that were agreed in the agreement of cease-fire”.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas, which already was at risk of failing Before entering into force, he contemplates a first phase of six weeks of truce, in which he would release about thirty hostages in his possession since the attack of October 7, 2023, while Tel Aviv would do the same with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
This exchange is still underway, so the agreed to break, would be unfinished and continue to leave the hostages and prisoners that were going to free themselves in the hands of the other side.
In addition, the first phase also establishes other actions, such as those related to the help and movement of the Gazaties in the strip, on which Hamas has now claimed, while giving rise to the negotiations of the following stages, which already already They had begun.
The possibility of the rupture of the high to fire has dismayed the international community, which had concluded the agreement after months of failed negotiations. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, asked Hamas to continue releasing hostages and called both parties to fulfill the commitments achieved.
“We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza, which would lead to immense tragedy,” said Guterres.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Israelis have manifested publicly in favor of maintaining the agreement and that hostages can return with their families.
