A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement with mediators, according to a statement by the Palestinian group.
The fragile agreement reached last month between Hamas and Israel appeared strained on Wednesday, with Hamas saying it would not bow down to threats from Israel and the United States of renewed fighting and the mass displacement of Palestinians.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to salvage the deal, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV, which is close to the country’s security agencies.
Hamas has warned it will delay the next release of Israeli captives scheduled for Saturday, saying Israel has violated the truce by firing on people in Gaza and not allowing the agreed-upon number of tents, shelters and other vital aid to enter the territory.
“The occupation must implement the terms of the ceasefire agreement until the prisoners are released. The occupation is required to abide by the agreed humanitarian protocol,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement on Wednesday.
Since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry on Tuesday.
In the latest violence, a 44-year-old man was killed and another was wounded in an Israeli strike in the southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military has said it only fires on people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce.
Threat of resumed fighting
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of President Donald Trump, has warned that Israel would resume fighting if the captives are not released on Saturday.
Trump has threatened that “all hell” will break out if Hamas does not release the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza by Saturday.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz echoed the phrase in a post on X on Wednesday, saying that if Hamas does not release the Israeli captives by Saturday, “the gates of hell will open on them, just as the US president promised.”
“The new Gaza war will be different in intensity from the one before the ceasefire – and will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages,” he wrote.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said that the Israeli army has been discussing a plan for a renewed offensive.
“However, some sources speaking to Israeli Army Radio said any military action to rescue the captives from Gaza would be ‘nearly impossible’ as Hamas is still very much active,” Salhut said.
The International Committee on the Red Cross also weighed in on Wednesday, warning that “any reversal” in the agreement “risks plunging people back into the misery and despair that defined the last 16 months”.
To date, at least 48,222 Palestinians have been confirmed killed throughout Israel’s war in Gaza. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with more than 200 taken captive.
The enclave remains on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, with the vast majority of its residents displaced and its infrastructure destroyed throughout the war.
Palestinians cannot be transferred
In his post on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Katz also pointed to Trump’s plan for the US to “take over” and permanently displace the people of Gaza.
He said a renewed Israeli offensive “will also allow the realisation of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza”.
Trump has promised to heap pressure on both Jordan and Egypt to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians. Both countries have refused.
On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke by phone, stressing the importance of the immediate start of Gaza’s reconstruction “without the transfer of Palestinian people from their land”, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.
The leaders also “showed their keenness” to work with Trump to achieve “permanent peace” in the region through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the statement said.
That came a day after Abdullah met Trump at the White House.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi again said that the kingdom will not budge in its opposition to Trump’s proposal.
“There are fixed and steadfast Jordanian positions that will not change … the Palestinians cannot be transferred to Egypt, Jordan, or any Arab state,” Safadi said.
The Palestinian Authority and Arab nations have all been united in their opposition to Trump’s plan.
On Wednesday, Hamas called for mass demonstrations across the world “against the plans of displacement and forced deportation”.
