Sawt Falasteen - Israel says Hamas must free three living hostages this weekend

Palestinian sources reported progress in efforts to salvage the ceasefire, which was plunged into crisis after Hamas said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations.

Israel countered that if Hamas failed to free captives on schedule, it would resume military operations.

"We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it," Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said, adding that mediators were pushing for Israel "to resume the exchange process on Saturday".

Hamas said it remained committed to carrying out the next exchange "according to the specified timetable".

Israel later insisted Hamas must release "three live hostages" on Saturday under the ceasefire framework.

"If those three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end," said government spokesman David Mencer.

On Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, meanwhile, a row of bulldozers was seen lining up and waiting to enter the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Egyptian state-linked media said heavy equipment and trucks carrying mobile homes were ready to enter, but Israel said later they would not be allowed to go in via the Rafah crossing.

Hamas has previously accused Israel of holding up the delivery of heavy machinery needed to clear the vast amount of rubble littering the territory.

- 'Power games' -

US President Donald Trump had warned this week that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release "all" the remaining hostages by noon on Saturday.

If fighting resumes, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said, "the new Gaza war... will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages".

"It will also allow the realisation of US President Trump's vision for Gaza," he added.

War raged for more than 15 months before the ceasefire took effect on January 19.

Trump, whose return to the White House has emboldened the Israeli far right, sparked global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened Thursday to launch new attacks on Israel if it and its ally the United States went ahead with Trump's plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza.

The ceasefire, currently in its first phase, has seen Israeli captives released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The two sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.

Last week's hostage release sparked anger in Israel and beyond after Hamas paraded three emaciated hostages before a crowd and forced them to speak.

Hamas has in turn accused Israel of failing to meet its aid commitments under the agreement.

But analyst Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group said despite their public disputes, Israel and Hamas were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not "given up on anything yet".

"They're just playing power games," she said.

In Israel, dozens of relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway near commercial hub Tel Aviv, waving banners and demanding the terms of the ceasefire be respected, an AFP photographer said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated the hostage-prisoner swaps, urged the parties to maintain the truce.

"Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on it," the ICRC said.

- Trump's plan -

Trump's proposal for Gaza and for moving its more than two million residents to Jordan or Egypt would, according to experts, violate international law, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as "revolutionary".

Hamas called for worldwide "solidarity marches" over the weekend to denounce "the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land".

Defence Minister Katz last week ordered the Israeli army to prepare for "voluntary" departures from Gaza. The military said it had already begun reinforcing its troops around Gaza.

Trump reaffirmed his Saturday deadline for the hostage release while hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday.

In a phone call Wednesday, Abdullah and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said they were united in supporting the "full implementation" of the ceasefire, and in their opposition to the displacement of Palestinians.

Many Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the plan.

"Who is Trump? Is he God almighty? The land of Jordan is for Jordanians, and the land of Egypt belongs to Egyptians," said Gaza City resident Abu Mohamed al-Husari.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,222 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

burs-smw/dv/it

H.Jarrar--SF-PST