Benjamin Netanyahu issues warning ahead of Gaza ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is ready to resume the war against Hamas if talks on a second phase of the ceasefire fail.

In a televised speech just hours before Sunday began, Netanyahu emphasized that the ceasefire was “temporary” and Israel reserved the right to resume attacks on Gaza, and he had the backing of US President-elect Donald Trump, to do it.

Netanyahu also described what he called the success of Israel’s military campaign over the past 15 months: including the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

“We have changed the face of the Middle East,” Netanyahu said, before adding that Hamas was now “completely alone.”

The ceasefire will take effect at 08:30 local time (06:30 GMT).

Before Saturday’s speech, Netanyahu said Israel would not implement the deal until it received the list of hostages Hamas would release.

“Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” he said.

Israeli media have already published a longer list of the 33 hostages Hamas must release, but officials have not confirmed it.

But Israeli authorities say they have not yet received the names of the three hostages who will be freed on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued airstrikes against what it says are Hamas and Islamic Jihad sites in Gaza; More than 120 people have been killed since the deal was announced Wednesday, Hamas officials say.

In the coming weeks, the 33 hostages will be released in exchange for 1,890 Palestinian prisoners. Under the terms of the agreement, Israel will also begin withdrawing its forces from Gaza.

It is not clear where the first hostages will be handed over. A senior Israeli military official said three reception points had been prepared near the border in northern, central and southern Gaza.

Earlier, a source close to Hamas told the AFP news agency that the first three hostages to be freed would be women.

Talks on the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire will begin on the 16th of the first phase and will focus on achieving “a permanent end to the war.”

Details of the second phase of the deal are still uncertain, but the expectation is that the remaining hostages, including men, will be released at this stage as more Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons are released.

There would also be a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. It is also understood that Hamas police, who will be unarmed unless absolutely necessary, will manage the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

The third and final stage will involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something that could take many years – and the return of the bodies of any remaining hostages.

On Friday night, The Israeli government approved the ceasefire and hostage release agreement after hours of discussions..

Two far-right cabinet ministers voted against it, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The lengthy structure of the deal is also causing anxiety and division among the hostages’ families. Some fear that their relatives will be abandoned in Gaza once the first phase is over.

On Saturday night, thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv to demand that the government guarantee the release of more hostages while respecting the first phase of the ceasefire.

Gal Alkalay, a member of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, told Reuters news agency: “We could have saved the lives of 200 soldiers and more than 10 hostages.” He added that people had died unnecessarily because the government “couldn’t make a decision and waited for Trump.”

Earlier on Saturday, several people were injured in a stabbing attack near a restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israeli police said. The attacker was reportedly shot dead at the scene by a civilian.

The suspect arrived in Tel Aviv “illegally” from Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media said.

There has been no respite for Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday night.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 123 people, including dozens of women and children, have been killed in attacks since then.

On Saturday, the Hamas-run Gaza civil defense rescue agency said at least five members of a family were killed when an attack hit their tent in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, AFP reports.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Israeli military said it had struck 100 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who were among several “terrorist targets” attacked across Gaza, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas, which is banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and others, in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. .

Since then, around 46,899 people have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry. Most of the 2.3 million inhabitants have also been displaced, there is widespread destruction and severe shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter as the struggle to get aid to those in need.