By SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN, Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Thursday it would release three more Israeli hostages as planned, paving the way toward resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The group had threatened to delay the next release of captives after accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow in tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce. Israel, with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, has said it will resume fighting if the hostages are not freed, but did not immediately comment on the statement by Hamas. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
The announcement from Hamas should allow the ceasefire to continue for now, even after Israel said Thursday that a rocket had been launched from Gaza — though doubts remain about the long-term durability of the truce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting Thursday with top military and security officials at the army’s Southern Command headquarters near the Gaza border.
Hamas said it held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles.”
Shortly after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that three hostages will be released on Saturday.
Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV, which is close to the country’s security services, reported that Egypt and Qatar had succeeded in resolving the dispute. The two Arab countries have served as key mediators with Hamas and helped broker the ceasefire, which took effect in January, more than 15 months into the war.
Egyptian media also aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
With the truce holding, the Israeli military said a rocket was fired from inside Gaza Thursday in what appeared to be the first such incident since the agreement took effect. The projectile landed within the territory and the military said later that it had struck the rocket launcher that had fired it.
Since the ceasefire began, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military says it has fired on people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce.
Trump has introduced more uncertainty
The truce faces a much bigger challenge in the coming weeks. The first phase is set to conclude at the beginning of March, and there have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.
Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them in other countries has thrown the truce’s future into further doubt. The plan has been welcomed by Israel’s government but vehemently rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, which have refused to accept any influx of refugees. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.
The proposal drew fresh criticism Thursday from both a U.S. ally and a foe.
In a rare rebuke, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Trump’s recent actions — including his push to expel Palestinians from Gaza — pose a threat to global peace.
“To tell the truth, I do not find Mr. Trump’s behavior in the past period and his current statements and challenges to many countries in the world to be right, and I do not see these as a positive development,” Erdogan told an Indonesian television anchor in an interview.
Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi threatened a “military intervention” if the plan proceeded.
“We will never remain passive in the face of such an aggressive plan against the Palestinian people,” Al-Houthi said in a televised speech.
Netanyahu’s far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of implementing Trump’s plan and annihilating Hamas, which remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting 251 people. More than half have been released in deals with Hamas or other agreements, eight have been rescued and dozens of bodies have been recovered.
The captives are among the only bargaining chips Hamas has left, and it may be difficult to get the group to commit to further releases if it believes the war will resume.
Trump has given mixed signals about what he wants to see in Gaza.
He took credit for brokering the ceasefire, which was reached days before he took office after more than a year of negotiations under the Biden administration. But he has also expressed misgivings about how the agreement is unfolding and says it’s up to Israel whether to resume the war or not, while pledging continued U.S. military support.
Seventy-three hostages have not yet been released, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.
The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Israel’s offensive has obliterated large parts of Gaza. At its height, the fighting had displaced 90% of the territory’s population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have returned to their homes since the ceasefire took hold, though many have found only mounds of rubble and buried human remains and unexploded ordnance.
Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Fatma Khaled in Cairo and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.
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