Tuesday,
February 11, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 24
Reuters: A Hamas official said yesterday Israeli hostages can be brought home from Gaza only if a fragile ceasefire is respected, dismissing the “language of threats” after US President Donald Trump said he would “let hell break out” if they were not freed.
Hamas has started releasing some hostages gradually under the ceasefire in place since January 19 but has postponed freeing any more until further notice, accusing Israel of violating the terms by continuing attacks on the Gaza Strip.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X yesterday that a resumption of activities should be avoided at all costs because that would lead to “immense tragedy”.
Trump, a close ally of Israel, said on Monday that Hamas should release all the hostages held by the group by midday on Saturday or he would propose cancelling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel remained determined to get all the hostages back. “We will continue to take determined and ruthless action until we return all of our hostages – the living and the deceased,” he said in a statement.
Trump has enraged Palestinians and Arab leaders and upended decades of US policy which endorsed a possible two-state solution in the region by trying to impose his vision of Gaza, which has been devastated by an Israeli military offensive and is short of food, water and shelter, and in need of foreign aid.
More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last 16 months, the Gaza health ministry says, and nearly all of Gaza’s population has been internally displaced by the conflict, which has caused a hunger crisis.
