Israel has sent a message to Hamas through Qatar and Egypt that if three Israeli hostages are released this Saturday, the ceasefire deal can continue, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing a senior Israeli official.
The position is a climb down from a day earlier when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to back President Trump’s threat that if all remaining hostages aren’t released by Saturday, the ceasefire deal would be over, and Israel would restart its genocidal war.
Netanyahu didn’t specify how many hostages he wanted to be released, but Israeli officials speaking to the media said Israel was demanding they all be freed. But under the deal, only three are supposed to be released on Saturday.
Hamas announced on Monday that it was postponing the Saturday hostage release, citing Israeli ceasefire violations, claims Israeli officials have acknowledged were accurate. Hamas has said Israel has not lived up to its commitment to allowing sufficient aid into Gaza, and one particular issue is over the lack of tents and mobile homes.
Abubaker Abed, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza, said on Wednesday that Israel was allowing more temporary structures into the Strip. “Thousands of tents and caravans have entered Gaza. The situation is becoming more stable, and aid has been flowing in consistently over the past hours,” he wrote on X.
Abed added, “The ceasefire will likely hold as Hamas gears up to release the three Israeli prisoners on Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian hostages. Israel is beginning to allow a surge of aid instead of a trickle.”
A Hamas official, Mahmoud Merdawi, also suggested the hostage release on Saturday may go as planned, saying there were “positive signals” in that direction.
Despite the apparent progress, Israel continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza. At least one Palestinian was killed, and several were wounded by an Israeli drone attack in Rafah.
The latest Israeli drone strike brings the total number of Palestinians killed since the ceasefire was enacted on January 19 to 93. Gaza’s Health Ministry said another 24 have died due to previously sustained wounds.
