After Hamas said it would postpone the next release of Israeli hostages, President Trump demanded that all hostages be released Saturday or “all hell is going to break out.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel held an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday after Hamas said it was postponing the next release of Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip, increasing the pressure on an already fragile three-week cease-fire.
The security cabinet was set to consider how — or whether — to move forward with ongoing negotiations to secure the safe release of all hostages this spring. The meeting began shortly after midday in Jerusalem, according to three Israeli officials.
Ahead of the meeting, relatives of the hostages blocked Israel’s main highway Tuesday morning with protest signs and orange smoke bombs. Even as one family rejoiced in receiving a proof-of-life message about 27-year-old twins Gali and Ziv Berman, another was told that Shlomo Mantzur, the oldest hostage at 86, had been killed.
Mr. Netanyahu moved up Tuesday’s meeting after Hamas said on Monday it would indefinitely postpone the release of several more hostages who had been expected to be freed on Saturday. Hamas accused Israel of violating parts of the cease-fire agreement.
Later on Monday night, President Trump threw down a gauntlet of his own, demanding that all of the remaining hostages be released by 12 o’clock on Saturday or “all hell is going to break out.”
Only a handful of Israeli hostages have been released each week since the cease-fire began, coinciding with the freeing of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as required under the first stage of the negotiated deal.