Hamas cites Israeli violations of ceasefire, Netanyahu threatens to resume all-out war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war on the Gaza Strip while Hamas says the Israeli military has been violating a ceasefire deal.
IRNA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to resume war on the Gaza Strip if Palestinians do not release Israeli prisoners, while Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group running Gaza, says the Israeli military has been violating a ceasefire deal.
On Monday, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, said the Israeli military was violating the ceasefire and, therefore, Hamas would delay the release of three prisoners who had been scheduled for a swap under the ceasefire deal.
Israel is “delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the strip, and not allowing relief supplies of all kinds to enter as agreed upon,” said Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, on Monday.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said that if the prisoners are not released on Saturday, “the ceasefire will end” and the Israeli military “will resume intense combat.”
The ceasefire took effect on January 19, after 15 months of war by the Israeli regime on the Gaza Strip, which was already the world’s most densely-populated area.
Despite the ceasefire, and according to figures provided by Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 118 Palestinians have been killed and 822 wounded in Israeli strikes after the ceasefire took effect.
