Israel will resume “intense” fighting in Gaza if more hostages are not released by Saturday noon, said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he ordered the army to send more troops to the war-torn region.
"The military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated," Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement on Tuesday after he issued a demand for an unspecified number of hostages to be returned.
His ultimatum came after Donald Trump threatened to let “hell break out” in Gaza if all Israeli hostages weren’t freed by Saturday. So far, 16 Israeli hostages have been released under truce signed last month. It is understood there are 76 hostages remaining.
Hamas suspended the release of hostages after accusing Israel of breaching ceasefire obligations, including the delaying the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, carrying out strikes across the enclave and hindering the entry of humanitarian aid.
As fears grow over a return to fighting, Mr Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to gather forces in and around Gaza. The military has also announced it was deploying additional forces to Israel's south, including mobilising reservists.
Key Points
- Israeli forces deployed in and around Gaza amid fears over end to ceasefire
- North Korea calls US a 'ferocious robber' over Trump's plan to take over Gaza
- Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if hostages not freed by Saturday noon, says Netanyahu
- Trump says ‘let all hell break out’ if all Israeli hostages are not freed by weekend
Israeli forces deployed in and around Gaza amid fears over end to ceasefire
11:15
,
Alex Ross
As concerns grow that the month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will break down, we’re just hearing that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mobilised troops in the Gaza region.
Under the ceasefire deal, the Palestinian militant group agreed to free three more hostages on Saturday - but has since said it was suspending the handover because of what it said were Israeli violations of the terms.
Mr Netanyahu has warned Israel would resume "intense fighting" if Hamas did not meet the deadline, but did not say how many hostages should be freed.
He said he had ordered the military to gather forces in and around Gaza, and the military announced shortly afterwards that it was deploying additional forces to Israel's south, including mobilising reservists.
Two people struck in Gaza over flying a drone, says Israeli military
11:04
,
Alex Ross
The Israeli military says it struck two people in the southern Gaza Strip who were flying a drone.
It said Wednesday that the drone was observed entering Gaza from Israel after past attempts to use drones to smuggle in weapons.
Munir al-Bursh, director general of Gaza’s health ministry, said Tuesday that at least 92 Palestinians have been killed and more than 800 wounded by Israeli fire since the fragile ceasefire took hold last month.
The Israeli military says it has fired upon people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce.
Hamas has threatened to delay the next release of hostages, accusing Israel of violating the agreement by firing on people and by not allowing the stipulated amounts of tents, shelters and other vital aid to enter the territory.
Israel, with the support of President Donald Trump, has warned that it will resume the fighting if hostages are not freed on Saturday.
Why has Jordan rejected Trump's plan to resettle Palestinians?
10:07
,
Alex Ross
Jordan's King Abdullah II once again rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians after meeting with President Donald Trump, who has called for the Gaza Strip's roughly 2 million residents to be removed from the war-ravaged territory.
Trump has suggested they could be resettled in Jordan and Egypt, both of which are vehemently opposed to any such scenario.
The Palestinians also reject Trump's plan, which they view as an attempt to forcibly displace them from part of their homeland. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have also rejected such plans.
During his meeting with Trump, Abdullah volunteered to accept up to 2,000 children from Gaza who have cancer or otherwise require medical treatment.
But in a post on X after the meeting, he "reiterated Jordan's steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank," adding that it was a "unified Arab position."
Jordan and Egypt have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
They fear that the permanent displacement of Gaza's population could make that impossible.
What is Trump's relationship like with North Korea?
09:07
It’s still early days for the Trump administration, and we’re yet to see how exactly the US president will deal with North Korea in his second term in office.
Last week, he said his team “will have relations with North Korea”, adding that he gets “along with them very well”.
During his first term, Mr Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on three occasions, becoming the first sitting US president to step on North Korean soil since the end of the Korean war.
However, the pair are in disagreement over the future of Gaza, with North Korea a strong critic of Israel's actions in Gaza.
Now the country’s news agency has called the US a “ferocious robber” over Mr Trump’s plan to take ownership of the Gaza region.
North Korea has also raised alarm over the docking a US submarine in the South Korean city of Busan.
We will have to see how, and if, Mr Trump responds to North Korea in the coming days
North Korea calls US a 'ferocious robber' after Trump's plan to take over Gaza
08:47
,
Alex Ross
North Korea has become the latest country to condemn Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza.
Last week, the US president announced plans to take ownership of the war-torn region and make it the “Rivera of Middle East”.
Under his plan, two million Palestinians would be resettled in neighbouring countries - which have opposed the idea.
Now North Korea has joined the opposition to the plan, condemning the idea as “bluster” and accusing Washington of robbery.
Commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency said: "The world is now boiling like a porridge pot over the U.S.' bombshell declaration’”.
It also criticised the Trump administration over its calls to take over the Panama Canal and Greenland, and its decision to change the name of the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America".
"The US should awaken from its anachronistic daydream and stop at once the act of encroaching upon the dignity and sovereignty of other countries and nations," the KCNA report said, while calling the U.S. a "ferocious robber”.
Parties must cooperate to ensure truce holds, says UK government
08:00
,
Alex Croft
The UK government has called on all parties involved in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to “cooperate” to ensure the truce holds.
“Our focus absolutely remains on the true the ceasefire can be sustained,” a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“We need to see the release of hostages this Saturday. This is a fragile deal.
“We're committed to building confidence on all sides to help sustain it, and we encourage all parties to engage, to sustain the ceasefire, to see all hostages released, and indeed continued flow of aid into Gaza, but [for] this deal to work really good parties [need] to cooperate in order to ensure all stages of the ceasefire are completed.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan hit by US sanctions
07:00
,
Alex Croft
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan is the first to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorised by US president Donald Trump targeting Israel’s war crimes tribunal.
Mr Khan, who is British, was named in an annex to an executive order signed by Trump last week, Reuters reported.
The ICC on Friday condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and "continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it”.
The Independent View | In the interest of both sides, the Gaza ceasefire deal must continue to be honoured
06:00
,
Alex Croft
In the nearly three weeks that have passed since Israel and Hamas concluded the ceasefire agreement, there have been five exchanges of hostages and prisoners. These exchanges have not been without last-minute hitches and delays, but they have taken place – to the immense joy and relief of the families and friends of those who have returned, and doubtless to the satisfaction of the many officials who concluded and helped to broker the agreement.
The procession of displaced Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, many seemingly in good heart, has also been an extraordinary testament to human resilience, given that most were setting off on the journey more in hope than in confidence that they would have any sort of home to return to. Their determination to return is all the more impressive given the immediate need that exists for food and medical aid, not to mention the gargantuan task of reconstruction that lies ahead.
Read The Independent’s view:
Egypt and Danish leaders discuss Gaza in phone call
04:31
,
Alex Croft
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and prime minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen discussed the Gaza truce in a phone call on Tuesday, according to a readout from Egypt’s government.
“President El-Sisi and the Danish Prime Minister reiterated the crucial need for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement in its three stages, the exchange of hostages and detainees, as well as facilitating immediate and unfettered access for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip to end the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sector,” it read.
“They also underscored the imperative to begin the reconstruction of Gaza to make it livable again, without displacing its Palestinian population, safeguarding their rights and ability to live on their land.”
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza hits 48,219
03:02
,
Alex Croft
At least 48,219 Palestinians have been killed and 111,665 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, 11 deaths were recorded and 10 people went into hospitals injured, health authorities said according to Wafa news agency.
ICYMI: Netanyahu praises Trump's idea for US to take over Gaza
01:29
,
Alex Croft
Israel's fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman raises fears in the West Bank
00:01
,
Alex Croft
Israel's fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman raises fears in the West Bank
The call came in the middle of the night, Mohammed Shula said. His daughter-in-law, eight months pregnant with her first child, was whispering. There was panic in her voice.
“Help, please,” Shula recalled her saying. “You have to save us.”
Minutes later, Sondos Shalabi was fatally shot.
Shalabi and her husband, 26-year-old Yazan Shula, had fled their home in the early hours of Sunday as Israeli security forces closed in on Nur Shams refugee camp, a crowded urban district in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Israeli military vehicles surrounded the camp days earlier, part of a larger crackdown on Palestinian militants across the northern occupied West Bank that has escalated since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect last month.
Pregnant woman Sondos Shalabi was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Read more here:
Stop dodging the Gaza issue, Prime Minister – get on the right side of history
Tuesday 11 February 2025 23:01
,
Alex Croft
This week has marked a new, horrifying phase in the long history of attempts to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their homeland.
Donald Trump’s comments made during Tuesday’s US-Israeli press conference in Washington – that he wishes to “take over” Gaza, to make it “the Riviera of the Middle East” – constitute the most explicit denial of the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and return by any US administration to date.
Away from the headline proposals on Gaza’s future, many Palestinians now fear the prospective Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have escalated attacks since the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Read the full piece:
Syrian president: Trump Gaza plan is a 'serious crime'
Tuesday 11 February 2025 22:00
,
Alex Croft
Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has described Donald Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza as a “serious crime that will ultimately fail”.
Trump has called for Palestinians to be removed from Gaza to make way for a US-owned major development site.
"I believe no power can drive people from their land. Many countries have tried to do it and they have all failed, especially during the recent war in Gaza over the past year and a half," Mr Sharaa said.
"Over 80 years of this conflict, all attempts to displace them have failed; those who left have regretted their decision. The Palestinian lesson that every generation has learned is the importance of holding on to their land.”
Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations have also opposed any attempt to push Palestinians over the border.
In pictures: Trump meets Jordan's King Abdullah
Tuesday 11 February 2025 21:15
,
Alex Croft
Who are remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza and when might they be freed?
Tuesday 11 February 2025 20:29
,
Alex Croft
More than a year after Hamas attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023 – killing around 1,200 people and taking another 250 captive – around 80 hostages remain, although Israel believes around a third are dead.
A ceasefire deal currently in place promises the release of the hostages held by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in Gaza.
The first stage of the ceasefire to due to last six weeks and see “a full and complete ceasefire” while 33 hostages in Gaza and up to 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in Israel are to be freed. The hostages released will include women, the elderly and the sick.
Tara Cobham and Tom Watling report:
Watch: UN chief warns against 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza following Trump comments
Tuesday 11 February 2025 19:44
,
Alex Croft
Abiding by ceasefire only way to bring hostages home, says Hamas official
Tuesday 11 February 2025 18:59
,
Alex Croft
Abiding by the ceasefire deal is the only way to bring home Israeli hostages, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Tuesday.
"Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to bring back the prisoners. The language of threats has no value and only complicates matters," he told Reuters.
Hamas indefinitely suspended the release of hostages on Monday, accusing Israel of failing to uphold its ceasefire obligations.
ICYMI: 'Resumption of hostilities must be avoided at all cost', says UN chief
Tuesday 11 February 2025 18:21
,
Alex Croft
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to continue with the release of hostages, one day after the militant group announced it would halt the exchange.
"We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to an immense tragedy," Mr Guterres said in a statement.
It comes after Hamas said on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages due to alleged violations of the ceasefire agreement, including air strikes on areas in the enclave.
"Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and resume negotiations in Doha for the second phase", Mr Guterres added.
How Trump’s fever dream over Gaza could be a nightmare for the West
Tuesday 11 February 2025 17:51
,
Alex Croft
Trump’s latest outburst on Gaza demanding that Hamas release all hostages held there by Saturday or there will be “hell to pay” is as mad as the threats to cut aid to Egypt and Jordan are dangerous – and will only empower America’s enemies.
The US president doesn’t have any capacity – that Israel doesn’t already have – to make Hamas “pay” for not releasing the remaining hostages. His threats sit against the backdrop of a ceasefire deal that, for now, is barely holding.
If the ceasefire breaks down entirely, then Israel may continue to bombard the enclave. Trump has already given Benjamin Netanyahu carte blanche to do so – and has lifted Biden’s previous restrictions on American 2,000lb munitions.
World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if hostages not freed by Saturday noon, says Netanyahu
Tuesday 11 February 2025 17:22
,
Alex Croft
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Gaza ceasefire would end if Hamas did not return hostages in the enclave by noon on Saturday.
"The military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated," he said in a video statement.
Donald Trump meets Jordan's King Abdullah
Tuesday 11 February 2025 17:16
,
Alex Croft
Donald Trump met Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday for what is expected to be a tense encounter after the US presidents controversial Gaza proposals.
Trump has proposed to forcibly transfer Palestinians out of Gaza before a US takeover of the strip would see it turned into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
King Abdullah has rejected any proposal to annex Palestinian land and displace its people. He is expected to convey his stance in today’s meeting.
Trump greeted King Abdullah and they stood together briefly outside the White House before entering for their meeting.
Watch live: Trump faces showdown with Jordan’s king over Gaza plans
Tuesday 11 February 2025 16:38
,
Alex Croft
Starmer faces backlash from 38 Labour MPs over failure to confront Trump on Gaza ‘ethnic cleansing’
Tuesday 11 February 2025 16:01
,
Alex Croft
Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to challenge Donald Trump over his plans to turn Gaza into his latest real estate project.
It comes as 38 Labour MPs wrote to him demanding he takes a stand against Mr Trump’s “ethnic cleansing” of Gaza in the biggest public backlash within the party against the prime minister since Labour won the election.
In a sign of the shared anger across parliament, the letter was also signed by eight independent MPs, four from Plaid Cymru, two SNP, two SDLP and one Alliance Party along with 13 peers from different parties including Labour.
Sir Keir attempted to avoid condemnation of the US president when he was confronted on the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions but Downing Street confirmed the PM planned to talk to the US president over the shock plans.
Political editor David Maddox and chief international correspondent Bel Trew report:
In pictures: Gaza left in ruins amid fragile ceasefire
Tuesday 11 February 2025 15:30
,
Alex Croft
Houthis threaten to strike Israel again if ceasefire not upheld
Tuesday 11 February 2025 15:01
,
Alex Croft
The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group who control most of western Yemen will launch attacks on Israel if attacks Gaza and does not fulfill its ceasefire obligations, the group’s leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a speech on Tuesday.
The group had attacked vessels in the Red Sea belonging to Israel and its allies, in what it described as an act of support with Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump to discuss Gaza with Jordan's King Abdullah in tense meeting
Tuesday 11 February 2025 14:37
,
Alex Croft
Donald Trump will meet Jordanian King Abdullah on Tuesday, hours after the US president threatened to let “all hell break out” if Hamas doesn’t release all hostages by Saturday noon.
It is Trump’s first meeting with the leader of an Arab country since his proposals for the forcible transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza to allow the US to take over the strip and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
King Abdullah has rejected any moves to remove Palestinians from their homeland. On Tuesday, he is expected to tell Trump such a move could boost radicalism, cause chaos in the region, jeopardize peace with Israel - threatening the country's survival.
Hamas suspends release of Israeli hostages from Gaza – putting ceasefire deal at risk
Tuesday 11 February 2025 14:15
,
Alex Croft
Hamas says it is suspending the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza – leaving a ceasefire agreed with Israel to end 15 months of war inside Gaza on a knife edge.
Israel and Hamas are in the middle of a six-week truce during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the hostages captured in its attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire went into effect last month, freeing 21 hostages and more than 730 prisoners. Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire. The Israeli public was shocked by the emaciated appearance of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, the three hostages who were released on Saturday, which has complicated progress on the deal. Many Palestinian prisoners released to Ramallah hours after the Israelis were freed also looked extremely thin, and seven out of 43 needed hospital treatment, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.
International editor Chris Stevenson reports:
Parties must cooperate to ensure truce holds, says UK government
Tuesday 11 February 2025 13:49
,
Alex Croft
The UK government has called on all parties involved in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to “cooperate” to ensure the truce holds.
“Our focus absolutely remains on the true the ceasefire can be sustained,” a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“We need to see the release of hostages this Saturday. This is a fragile deal.
“We're committed to building confidence on all sides to help sustain it, and we encourage all parties to engage, to sustain the ceasefire, to see all hostages released, and indeed continued flow of aid into Gaza, but [for] this deal to work really good parties [need] to cooperate in order to ensure all stages of the ceasefire are completed.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan hit by US sanctions
Tuesday 11 February 2025 13:30
,
Alex Croft
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan is the first to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorised by US president Donald Trump targeting Israel’s war crimes tribunal.
Mr Khan, who is British, was named in an annex to an executive order signed by Trump last week, Reuters reported.
The ICC on Friday condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and "continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it”.
The Independent View | In the interest of both sides, the Gaza ceasefire deal must continue to be honoured
Tuesday 11 February 2025 13:09
,
Alex Croft
In the nearly three weeks that have passed since Israel and Hamas concluded the ceasefire agreement, there have been five exchanges of hostages and prisoners. These exchanges have not been without last-minute hitches and delays, but they have taken place – to the immense joy and relief of the families and friends of those who have returned, and doubtless to the satisfaction of the many officials who concluded and helped to broker the agreement.
The procession of displaced Palestinians returning to northern Gaza, many seemingly in good heart, has also been an extraordinary testament to human resilience, given that most were setting off on the journey more in hope than in confidence that they would have any sort of home to return to. Their determination to return is all the more impressive given the immediate need that exists for food and medical aid, not to mention the gargantuan task of reconstruction that lies ahead.
Read The Independent’s view:
Egypt and Danish leaders discuss Gaza in phone call
Tuesday 11 February 2025 12:49
,
Alex Croft
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and prime minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen discussed the Gaza truce in a phone call on Tuesday, according to a readout from Egypt’s government.
“President El-Sisi and the Danish Prime Minister reiterated the crucial need for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement in its three stages, the exchange of hostages and detainees, as well as facilitating immediate and unfettered access for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip to end the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sector,” it read.
“They also underscored the imperative to begin the reconstruction of Gaza to make it livable again, without displacing its Palestinian population, safeguarding their rights and ability to live on their land.”
ICYMI: Netanyahu praises Trump's idea for US to take over Gaza
Tuesday 11 February 2025 12:30
,
Alex Croft
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza hits 48,219
Tuesday 11 February 2025 12:11
,
Alex Croft
At least 48,219 Palestinians have been killed and 111,665 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, 11 deaths were recorded and 10 people went into hospitals injured, health authorities said according to Wafa news agency.
Israel's fatal shooting of a pregnant Palestinian woman raises fears in the West Bank
Tuesday 11 February 2025 11:51
,
Alex Croft
The call came in the middle of the night, Mohammed Shula said. His daughter-in-law, eight months pregnant with her first child, was whispering. There was panic in her voice.
“Help, please,” Shula recalled her saying. “You have to save us.”
Minutes later, Sondos Shalabi was fatally shot.
Shalabi and her husband, 26-year-old Yazan Shula, had fled their home in the early hours of Sunday as Israeli security forces closed in on Nur Shams refugee camp, a crowded urban district in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Israeli military vehicles surrounded the camp days earlier, part of a larger crackdown on Palestinian militants across the northern occupied West Bank that has escalated since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza took effect last month.
Pregnant woman Sondos Shalabi was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Read more here:
Stop dodging the Gaza issue, Prime Minister – get on the right side of history
Tuesday 11 February 2025 11:35
,
Alex Croft
This week has marked a new, horrifying phase in the long history of attempts to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their homeland.
Donald Trump’s comments made during Tuesday’s US-Israeli press conference in Washington – that he wishes to “take over” Gaza, to make it “the Riviera of the Middle East” – constitute the most explicit denial of the Palestinian people’s rights to self-determination and return by any US administration to date.
Away from the headline proposals on Gaza’s future, many Palestinians now fear the prospective Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces have escalated attacks since the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Director of the British Palestinian Committee Dr Sara Husseini writes:
Syrian president: Trump Gaza plan is a 'serious crime'
Tuesday 11 February 2025 11:17
,
Alex Croft
Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has described Donald Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza as a “serious crime that will ultimately fail”.
Trump has called for Palestinians to be removed from Gaza to make way for a US-owned major development site.
"I believe no power can drive people from their land. Many countries have tried to do it and they have all failed, especially during the recent war in Gaza over the past year and a half," Mr Sharaa said.
"Over 80 years of this conflict, all attempts to displace them have failed; those who left have regretted their decision. The Palestinian lesson that every generation has learned is the importance of holding on to their land.”
Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations have also opposed any attempt to push Palestinians over the border.
In pictures: Palestinians flee Israeli West Bank raids
Tuesday 11 February 2025 10:58
,
Alex Croft
