Uncertainty over Gaza ceasefire deal | Netanyahu warns of  ‘intense fighting’ if hostages not released on Saturday after Hamas says no; mediators step up efforts to save ceasefire

Agencies JERUSALEM/DUBAI

Israel's military has called up reservists in preparation for a possible resumption of fighting in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to release more Israeli hostages and a nearly month-old ceasefire breaks down.

The move comes in the wake of  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning  that “intense fighting” would resume in Gaza if Hamas did not release hostages by noon on Saturday. His statements closely echoed  US President Donald Trump’s threats against Hamas on Monday after the Palestinian group said it would postpone releasing hostages.

Netanyahu did not specify how many hostages would have to be freed to stop a renewed war. Three hostages were scheduled to be released this week under the ceasefire deal in force since January 19. The standoff threatens to reignite a conflict that has devastated the Gaza Strip, internally displaced most of its people and caused shortages of food, running water and shelter, and pushed the Middle East to the brink of a wider regional war.

Israeli officials said government ministers had endorsed Trump's threat to "cancel" the ceasefire unless all the remaining Israeli hostages are released on Saturday. Hamas has said it remains committed to the agreement but has not agreed to release the hostages on Saturday. A Palestinian official close to the talks said mediators had stepped up their intervention "to prevent things sliding into a real crisis".

"Things are not yet clear, but there is a big intervention from the side of the mediators with both sides in an attempt to resolve the impasse and ensure no pauses in the ceasefire agreement," said the official, who asked not to be identified. Asked for comment on where things stand, another Hamas official told Reuters, without giving details: "Contacts are underway."

So far, Hamas has released 16 Israeli hostages from an initial group of 33 children, women and older men to be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first stage of a multi-phase ceasefire deal. In addition, it has also returned five Thai hostages in an unscheduled release.

Negotiations on a second phase of the agreement, which mediators had hoped would include agreement on the release of the remaining hostages as well as the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, were supposed to be under way in Doha but an Israeli team returned home on Monday, two days after arriving.

The threat to cancel a 42-day ceasefire that formed the basis on the agreement has drawn thousands of Israeli protesters to the streets this week, calling on the government to continue with the deal to bring the remaining hostages back.