DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday that killed more than 400 Palestinians, local health officials said, shattering a ceasefire in place since January as it vowed to force Hamas to release more hostages and relinquish control of the territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused Israeli demands to free half of the remaining hostages as a precondition for extending the ceasefire. Israel’s deadliest bombardment of the territory in the 17-month war killed mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Netanyahu said the attack was “only the beginning” and that Israel would press ahead until it achieves all of its war aims — destroying Hamas and freeing all hostages held by the militant group.

All further ceasefire negotiations will take place “under fire,” he said in a statement aired on national television. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.

The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and head toward the center of the territory, indicating that Israel could soon launch renewed ground operations. The new campaign comes as aid groups warn supplies are running out two weeks after Israel cut off all food, medicine, fuel and other goods to Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians.

The pre-dawn barrage across Gaza struck homes and shelters and set a tent camp ablaze as families slept or prepared the “sohour,” the meal Muslims eat before they start the daily fast in the holy month of Ramadan. In Gaza City, Omar Greygaa said that after the strikes, he ran out to help survivors in a nearby stricken building.

“In every room I found the dead. … I finish in one place and go to another, and I find more dead,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re in a state of war or truce.”

The attack could signal the full resumption of a war that has already killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza. It also raised concerns about the fate of the roughly two dozen hostages held by Hamas who are believed to still be alive.

A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to return to war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages. Izzat al-Risheq accused Netanyahu of launching the strikes to save his far-right governing coalition.

There were no reports of any attacks by Hamas several hours after the bombardment.

But Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired rockets toward Israel for the first time since the ceasefire began. The volley set off sirens in Israel’s southern Negev desert but was intercepted before it reached the country’s territory, the military said. The U.S. over the weekend launched deadly strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis.

Israel’s return to a military campaign came as Netanyahu faces mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel’s internal security agency. His latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was canceled after the strikes.

The strikes appeared to give Netanyahu a political boost. A far-right party led by Itamar Ben-Gvir that had bolted the government over the ceasefire announced Tuesday it was rejoining.

The main group representing families of the hostages accused the government of “deliberately dismantling” the ceasefire. Thousands of Israelis packed a Tel Aviv square Tuesday evening to protest Netanyahu’s intention to fire the country’s domestic security chief and demand the government to resume negotiations for a hostage deal.

“Today Netanyahu did not open the gates of hell on Hamas. He opened the gates of hell on our loved ones,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son is among the hostages.

After two months of relative calm during the ceasefire, stunned Palestinians found themselves once again digging loved ones out of rubble and holding funeral prayers over the dead at hospital morgues.

“Nobody wants to fight,” Nidal Alzaanin, a resident of Gaza City, said. “Everyone is still suffering from the previous months.”

A hit on a home in Rafah killed 17 members of one family, according to the European Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included five children, their parents, and another father and his three children. Another in Gaza City killed 27 members of a family, half of them women and children, including a 1-year-old, according to a list of the dead put out by Palestinian medics.

By noon on Tuesday, Nasser Hospital had received the bodies of at least 28 children killed in recent violence, according to records shared by Ahmed Al-Farra, head of pediatrics and obstetrics.

At Khan Younis’s Nasser Hospital, patients lay on the floor, some screaming. A young girl cried as her bloody arm was bandaged. Wounded children overwhelmed the pediatric ward, said Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, a volunteer with Medical Aid for Palestinians aid group.

She said she helped treat a 6-year-old girl with internal bleeding. When they pulled away her curly hair, they realized shrapnel had also penetrated the left side of her brain, leaving her paralyzed on the right side. She was brought in with no ID, and “we don’t know if her family survived,” Haj-Hassan said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least 404 people and wounded more than 560. Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry’s records department, said at least 263 of those killed were women or children under 18. He described it as the deadliest day in Gaza since the start of the war.

In his statement Tuesday, Netanyahu blamed Hamas for civilian casualties, saying it operates among the population.

Hamas said at least six senior officials were killed in Tuesday’s strikes. Israel said they included the head of Hamas’ civilian government, a justice ministry official and two security agency chiefs.

The war has killed over 48,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. The Health Ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and militants but says over half of the dead have been women and children.

The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefires or other deals, with Israeli forces rescuing only eight and recovering dozens of bodies.

The White House blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”

The ceasefire deal that the U.S. helped broker, however, did not require Hamas to release more hostages to extend the halt in fighting beyond its first phase.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation, said Israel was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure and planned to expand the operation beyond air attacks.

The official accused Hamas of attempting to rebuild and plan new attacks. Hamas militants and security forces quickly returned to the streets in recent weeks after the ceasefire went into effect. Hamas on Tuesday denied planning new attacks.

Under the ceasefire that began in mid-January, Hamas released 25 hostages and the bodies of eight more in exchange for more than 1,700 Palestinian prisoners as agreed in the first phase.

But Israel balked at entering negotiations over a second phase. Under the agreement, phase two was meant to bring the freeing of the remaining 24 living hostages, an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says Hamas also holds the remains of 35 captives.

Instead, Israel demanded Hamas release half of the remaining hostages in return for a ceasefire extension and a vague promise to eventually negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas refused, demanding the two sides follow the original deal, which called for the halt in fighting to continue during negotiations over the second phase.

Israel says it will not end the war until it destroys Hamas’ governing and military capabilities and frees all hostages — two goals that could be incompatible.

A full resumption of the war would allow Netanyahu to avoid the tough trade-offs called for in the second phase and the thorny question of who would govern Gaza.

It would also shore up his coalition, which depends on far-right lawmakers who want to depopulate Gaza and rebuild Jewish settlements there.

Federman reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press reporters Mohammad Jahjouh in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip; Abdel Kareem Hana in Gaza City, Gaza Strip; Fatma Khaled in Cairo; and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel launched new strikes against Hamas and promised ‘increasing military force’ after talks on further hostage releases stalled.

Early Tuesday morning, Israel’s Prime Minister’s office said it instructed the army to strike Hamas across Gaza.

The statement said it was because of Hamas’ repeated refusals to release its hostages and its rejection of all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators.

The strikes come after nearly two months of a ceasefire to pause the 17-month long war where dozens of hostages were released for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday, killing at least 10 people, including a child, according to local authorities. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants plotting attacks.

The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. Israel has blocked all food, medicine, fuel and other supplies from entering Gaza the past two weeks, demanding Hamas accept changes in the two sides’ ceasefire deal.

In Syria, Israel seized a zone in the south after the fall of longtime autocrat Bashar Assad in December. Israel says it is a preemptive security measure against the former Islamist insurgents who now run Syria, though their transitional government has not expressed threats against Israel.

The strikes hit a residential area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, killing three people and wounding 19 others, including four children, a woman and three civil defense volunteers, the Syrian civil defense agency said. It said two ambulances were damaged. Other strikes hit military positions near the city.

The Israeli military said it was targeting military command centers and sites in southern Syria that contained weapons and vehicles belonging to Assad’s forces. It said the materials’ presence posed a threat to Israel.

In central Gaza, two strikes hit around the urban refugee camp of Bureij. One struck a school serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, killing a 52-year-old man and his 16-year-old nephew, according to officials at nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said it struck militants planting explosives.

An earlier strike killed three men in Bureij. The Israeli military said the men were trying to plant an explosive device in the ground near Israeli troops. Gaza’s Hamas-led government said the men were collecting firewood.

In Lebanon, Israel said it struck two members of the Hezbollah militant group in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor, who it said were “observation operatives.” Lebanon’s state news agency reported two people killed in the strike and two wounded.

The military later said it carried out further strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, without specifying where. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in late November ending the 14-month war between the two sides, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the deal.

Since the ceasefire in Gaza began in mid-January, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military says approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas.

Still, the deal has tenuously held without an outbreak of wide violence. The ceasefire’s first phase saw an exchange of some hostages held by Hamas in return for the freeing of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate the next steps in the ceasefire.

Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas instead wants to follow the ceasefire deal reached by the two sides, which calls for negotiations to begin on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, in which the remaining hostages would be released and Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.

AP reporter Ghaith Alsayed in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

CAIRO (AP) — Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Tuesday are set to endorse a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be depopulated and transformed into a beach destination, even as the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is uncertain.

The summit hosted by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi included the emir of Qatar, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia — countries whose support is crucial for any postwar plan. United Nations’ Secretary-General António Guterres also attended.

Israel has embraced what it says is an alternative U.S. proposal for the ceasefire itself and the release of hostages taken in Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war. It has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza to try to get Hamas to accept the new proposal and has warned of additional consequences, raising fears of a return to fighting.

The suspension of aid drew widespread criticism, with human rights groups saying that it violated Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international law.

The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages — the militant group’s main bargaining chip — in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners — a key component of the first phase.

Egypt published a 112-page draft of the $53 billion plan for rebuilding Gaza by 2030 without removing its population. The first phase calls for starting the removal of unexploded ordnance and clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left by Israel’s bombardment and military offensives.

Hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units would be set up where Gaza’s population could live while reconstruction takes place. The rubble would be recycled, and some of it would be used as infill to create expanded lands on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.

In the following years, the plan envisages completely reshaping the strip, building “sustainable, green and walkable” housing and urban areas, with renewable energy. It renovates agricultural lands and creates industrial zones and large park areas.

It also calls for the opening of an airport, a fishing port and a commercial port. The Oslo peace accords in the 1990s called for the opening of an airport and a commercial port in Gaza, but the projects withered as the peace process collapsed.

Under the plan, Hamas would cede power to an interim administration of political independents until a reformed Palestinian Authority can assume control.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Western-backed authority and an opponent of Hamas, was attending the summit.

Israel has ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and, along with the United States, has demanded Hamas’ disarmament. Hamas, which doesn’t accept Israel’s existence, has said it’s willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians, but won’t give up its arms until there is a Palestinian state.

An early draft of the statement endorsing the plan called for a “permanent and just solution” for the Palestinian cause, and for the U.N. Security Council to deploy international peacekeepers in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The mention of peacekeepers was dropped from a later draft.

Israel has vowed to maintain open-ended security control over both territories, which it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and which Palestinians want for their future state. Israel’s government and most of its political class are opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Trump shocked the region last month when he suggested that Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians be resettled in other countries. He said that the United States would take ownership of the territory and redevelop it into a Middle Eastern “Riviera.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraced the proposal, which was roundly rejected by Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who said it would likely violate international law.

Trump has suggested that Egypt and Jordan, two close American allies, could take in large numbers of Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Both countries have adamantly rejected any such plan.

Meeting with Trump at the White House last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan offered to take in around 2,000 children for medical treatment. The first batch of around 30 children left Gaza for Jordan on Tuesday, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The children are being accompanied by up to two family members.

Jordan said that the children are amputees and will return to Gaza when their treatment is complete. The kingdom has also set up field hospitals in Gaza and delivered aid by air and land.

The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage. Hamas-led militants are still holding 59 hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.

Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements. Israel has rescued eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens more.

Israel’s 15-month offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It doesn’t say how many were fighters, but the ministry says women and children made up more than half the dead. Israel says it killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The offensive destroyed large areas of Gaza, including much of its health system and other infrastructure. At its height, the war displaced abou 90% of the population, mostly within the territory, where hundreds of thousands packed into squalid tent camps and schools repurposed as shelters.

Jahjouh reported from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel stopped the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” if Hamas doesn’t accept a new proposal to extend a fragile ceasefire.

Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the existing ceasefire agreement and said its decision to cut off aid was “cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack” on the truce, which took hold in January after more than a year of negotiations. Both sides stopped short of saying the ceasefire had ended.

The first phase of the ceasefire, which included a surge in humanitarian assistance, expired on Saturday. The two sides have yet to negotiate the second phase, in which Hamas was to release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout and a lasting ceasefire.

Egypt, which has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, condemned the closure and accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon.” Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the immediate implementation of Phase 2 of the existing ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that under the existing agreements Israel could resume fighting after the first phase if it believed negotiations were ineffective. He said the ceasefire would only continue if Hamas kept releasing hostages, telling his Cabinet that “there will be no free lunches.” He said Israel was “full coordinated” with President Donald Trump’s administration.

There was no immediate comment from the United States on the proposal announced by Israel or its decision to cut off aid.

Hundreds of aid trucks have entered Gaza daily since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19. But residents said prices doubled on Sunday as word of the closure spread and people raced to stock up.

“Everyone is worried,” said Sayed al-Dairi, a man living in Gaza City. “This is not a life.”

Fayza Nassar, a woman living in the heavily destroyed urban Jabaliya refugee camp, said the closure would exacerbate already dire living conditions.

“There will be famine and chaos,” she said. “Closing the crossings is a heinous crime.”

Israel said the new proposal, which it said came from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, called for extending the ceasefire through Ramadan — the Muslim holy month that began over the weekend — and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends on April 20.

Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Netanyahu said.

Hamas warned that any attempt to delay or cancel the ceasefire agreement would have “humanitarian consequences” for the hostages and reiterated that the only way to free them was through implementing the existing deal, which did not specify a timeline for freeing the remaining captives.

Hamas has said it is willing to free the hostages all at once in Phase 2, but only in return for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

An Egyptian official said Hamas and Egypt would not accept a new proposal aimed at returning the remaining hostages without ending the war. The official noted that the agreement had called on the two sides to begin negotiations over Phase 2 in early February.

The official, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said mediators were trying to resolve the dispute.

Under the first, six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces pulled back from most of Gaza and Israel allowed a surge of humanitarian aid to enter.

But the first phase was marred by repeated disputes, with each side accusing the other of violations.

Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians who the military said had approached its forces or entered areas in violation of the truce. Israel carried out an airstrike on Palestinians who it said were planting an explosive device in northern Gaza near the border on Sunday. Gaza’s Health Ministry said two men were killed in the strike and that Israeli fire killed two other people elsewhere.

Hamas paraded the captives — some of whom were emaciated — before crowds in public spectacles that Israel and the United Nations said were cruel and degrading. It initially returned the wrong set of remains instead of those of a mother who was killed in captivity along with her two young children.

Hamas said Israel’s aid suspension was another violation, saying the ceasefire and aid deliveries were supposed to continue during negotiations over Phase 2.

Israel imposed a complete siege on Gaza in the opening days of the war and only eased it later under U.S. pressure.

U.N. agencies and aid groups accused Israel of not facilitating enough aid during 15 months of war, and the Biden administration repeatedly pressed it to do more. Experts warned on several occasions that hunger was widespread in Gaza and that there was a risk of famine.

The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year. The allegation is also central to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.

Israel has denied the accusations and rejected both court actions as being biased against it. Israel says it has allowed enough aid to enter and blamed shortages on what it said was the U.N.’s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid.

Kenneth Roth, the former head of Human Rights Watch who is now a visiting professor at Princeton University, said that Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions.

“Israel’s latest threat to cut off all aid is a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the ICC warrant, he said.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. The militants are currently holding 59 hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead, after releasing most of the rest in two ceasefire agreements.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children but does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.

Israeli bombardment and ground operations pounded large areas of the strip to rubble and at the height of the conflict displaced some 90% of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians. The war has left most of Gaza’s population dependent on international aid for food and other essentials.

This story has been corrected to show that 35 of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead, not 32.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An investigation by the Israeli military has determined that Hamas was able to carry out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on Oct. 7, 2023, because the much more powerful Israeli army misjudged the militant group’s intentions and underestimated its capabilities.

The findings, released Thursday, could pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a widely demanded broader inquiry to examine the political decision-making that preceded the attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Many Israelis believe the mistakes of Oct. 7 extend beyond the military, and they blame Netanyahu for what they view as a failed strategy of deterrence and containment in the years leading up to the attack. That strategy included allowing Qatar to send suitcases of cash into Gaza and sidelining Hamas’ rival, the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

The prime minister has not taken responsibility, saying he will answer tough questions only after the war, which has been paused for nearly six weeks by a tenuous ceasefire. Despite public pressure, including from the families of the roughly 1,200 people killed in the Oct. 7 attack and the 251 taken as hostages into Gaza, Netanyahu has resisted calls for a commission of inquiry.

The military’s main findings were that the region’s most powerful and sophisticated military misread Hamas’ intentions, underestimated its capabilities and was wholly unprepared for the surprise attack by thousands of heavily armed militants in the early morning hours of a major Jewish holiday.

In comments made to military commanders Monday, and shared with the media on Thursday, the army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said he took responsibility for the army’s failures.

“I was the commander of the military on October 7th, and I have my own responsibility. I also carry the weight of all your responsibility — that, too, I see as mine,” said Halevi, who announced his resignation in January and is set to step down next week.

The military’s findings are in line with past conclusions reached by officials and analysts. The military released only a summary of the report and military officials outlined its findings.

“Oct. 7 was a complete failure,” said one military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

A central misconception was that Hamas, which seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007, was more interested in governing the territory than fighting Israel, the inquiry found.

The military also misjudged the militant group’s capabilities. Military planners had envisioned that, at worst, Hamas could stage a ground invasion from up to eight border points, the official said. In fact, Hamas had more than 60 attack routes.

Intelligence assessed in the aftermath of the attack has shown Hamas came close to staging the offensive on three earlier occasions but delayed it for unknown reasons, the official said.

The official said that in the hours before the attack, there were signs that something was amiss, including when Hamas fighters switched their phones over to the Israeli network.

The perception that Hamas did not want war guided decision makers away from taking action that night that might have thwarted the attack. The Israeli military official said intelligence shows that Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack who was killed last October, had begun planning it as early as 2017.

With the military off guard on a holiday weekend, Hamas launched a heavy wave of rockets that allowed thousands of fighters to burst through the security fence or fly over it on hang gliders. They knocked out surveillance cameras and quickly overwhelmed hundreds of soldiers stationed along the border.

From there they advanced to key highway intersections and attacked troops dispatched to the area, including some senior officers, disrupting the military’s command and control, according to a second military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

For the first three hours after the attack, Hamas fighters marauded through border communities and a music festival with little resistance. That was when most of the 251 hostages were taken and most people were killed, the official said. The official said the chaos led to friendly fire incidents, although he said there were not many, without disclosing a figure.

It took hours for the military to regain control and days until the area was fully cleared of militants.

According to the first official, the report blamed the military for being overconfident in its knowledge and not showing enough doubt in its core concepts and beliefs. The summary said a key lesson was that Israel could not let a threat develop on its border.

It spelled out several recommendations, including creating special units meant to prepare for such surprise and large-scale events, as well as reform in the military intelligence department that would foster “openness, skepticism, listening, learning.”

It did not place blame on any individual soldiers or officers, but is likely to pave the way for a reckoning in the military and eventual dismissals.

Some high-ranking officers other than Halevi have also resigned, including the former head of military intelligence.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is delayed “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies” at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.

The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came early Sunday as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left the open gates of Ofer prison, only to turn around and go back in.

The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners had been delayed for several hours and was meant to occur just after six Israeli hostages were released on Saturday. It was meant to be the largest one-day prisoner release in the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase.

Five of the six hostages freed Saturday were escorted by masked, armed militants in front of a crowd — a display that the U.N. and others have criticized as cruel after previous handovers.

The Israeli statement cited “ceremonies that demean the dignity of our hostages and the cynical use of the hostages for propaganda purposes.” It was likely a reference to a Hamas video showing two hostages who have yet to be released watching a handover in Gaza on Saturday and speaking under duress.

Hamas had released the last six living hostages expected under the ceasefire ’s first phase, with a week remaining in the initial stage.

Israel’s announcement abruptly put the future of the truce into further doubt.

Freed were three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival and another taken while visiting family in southern Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the 16-month war in Gaza. The two others were held for a decade after entering Gaza on their own.

Five were handed over in staged ceremonies that the Red Cross and Israel have condemned as cruel and disrespectful.

Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters. A beaming Shem Tov, acting under duress, kissed two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd. They wore fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when abducted.

Cohen’s family and friends in Israel chanted “Eliya! Eliya! Eliya!” and cheered.

“You’re heroes,” Shem Tov told his parents as they later embraced, laughing and crying. “You have no idea how much I dreamt of you.” His father, Malki Shem Tov, told public broadcaster Kan his son was held alone after the first 50 days and lost 17 kilograms (37 pounds).

Earlier Saturday, Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were freed. Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, entered Gaza in 2014. His family told Israeli media he has struggled with mental health issues. The Israeli-Austrian Shoham was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri. His wife and two children were freed in a 2023 exchange.

Later, Israel’s military said Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was released. The Bedouin Israeli entered Gaza in 2015. His family has told Israeli media he was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Israel’s government didn’t respond to questions about the delay in releasing prisoners. Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal, with spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanou accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “deliberately stalling.”

The hostage release followed a heartrending dispute when Hamas on Thursday handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother abducted with her two young boys. The remains were determined to be those of a Palestinian woman. Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation.” Hamas suggested it was a mistake.

Israeli forensic authorities confirmed a body handed over on Friday was Bibas. Dr. Chen Kugel, head of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, said they found no evidence Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Hamas has claimed. Kugel did not give a cause.

Hamas denied the Israeli military claim, based on forensic evidence and unspecified “intelligence,” that its militants killed the children “with their bare hands,” calling it a lie aimed at justifying Israeli military actions against civilians in Gaza.

The ceasefire deal has paused the deadliest and most devastating fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, but there are fears the war will resume.

Hamas has said it will release four bodies next week, completing the truce’s first phase. After that, Hamas will hold over 60 hostages — about half believed to be alive.

Talks on the ceasefire’s second phase are yet to start, but negotiations are likely to be more difficult.

Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu, with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, says he’s committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu would meet with security advisers on Saturday evening about the ceasefire’s future, focusing “on the goal of returning all our hostages, alive and dead.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting had not been formally announced.

Wenkert, Cohen, Shoham and Shem Tov had an “extremely difficult period in captivity,” the Beilinson hospital said, but it did not give details at the families’ request.

Niva Wenkert, Omer’s mother, told Israel’s Channel 12 that “on the surface, he looks OK, but there’s no telling what’s inside.”

“This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing together,” Shoham’s family said, and called for a deal to free all hostages still held.

Families and others rallied again Saturday night in Tel Aviv to pressure Netanyahu’s government for a deal.

“How is it possible that President Trump and special envoy (Steven) Witkoff are more committed to the return of Israeli hostages than you are?” said Naama Weinberg, cousin of deceased hostage Itay Svirsky. “Netanyahu, these are your citizens who were abandoned on your watch!”

Hamas later released a video showing two hostages still held, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dallal, as they sat in a vehicle and spoke under duress at the handover for Shem Tov, Cohen and Wenkert. A group representing hostages’ families called the video “sickening.”

The 620 Palestinian prisoners meant to be freed include 151 serving life or other sentences for attacks against Israelis. Almost 100 would be deported, according to the Palestinian prisoners’ media office.

A Palestinian prisoner rights association said they include Nael Barghouti, who spent over 45 years in prison for an attack that killed an Israeli bus driver.

Also meant to be released are 445 men, 23 children aged 15 to 19, and a woman, all seized by Israeli troops in Gaza without charge during the war.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza’s population.

The Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have died in the war.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Jahjouh from Rafah. Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Abdel-Kareem Hana in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip; and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The remains of two child hostages have been identified but another body released by Hamas was not the boys’ mother, the Israeli military said early Friday.

Hamas militants had turned over four bodies Thursday under the tenuous ceasefire that has paused over 15 months of war. One was that of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

The remains of Ariel and Kfir Bibas were identified by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the family was notified, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. It said the boys were murdered in captivity in November 2023.

The identification process for the additional body received determined it was not that of Shiri Bibas or any other hostage, the Israeli military said.

“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages,” the military said. “We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages.”

Hamas did not immediately respond to Israel’s announcement that the body was not of the boys’ mother.

The announcement from the Israeli military comes as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began Jan. 19 remains shaky. A series of explosions Thursday on three parked buses rattled central Israel. The Israeli military said early Friday it had imposed restrictions on Palestinian movement and sealed off parts of in the West Bank amid its ongoing security operations there.

A statement on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military would “carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism” in the West Bank, raising the specter of a further escalation there.

The handover of four bodies to Israel during the day Thursday had set off a nationwide outpouring of grief as flag-waving crowds lined highways on a rainy day to pay respect to a convoy carrying the coffins and thousands packed a Tel Aviv square in an emotional nighttime vigil.

Many people wiped away tears and softly sang the national anthem as the caravan wound through southern Israel — a stark contrast to the celebratory return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that has paused over 15 months of war.

The handover was a grim reminder of those who died in captivity.

Hamas has said that all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that Lifshitz was killed in captivity by the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Militants who handed over the bodies displayed four black coffins on a stage in the Gaza Strip surrounded by banners, including one depicting Netanyahu as a vampire. On each coffin, a photo of one of the hostages was stapled to the side.

Large numbers of masked and armed militants looked on as the coffins were loaded onto Red Cross vehicles before being driven to Israeli forces. The military later held a small funeral ceremony, at the request of the families, before transferring the bodies to a laboratory in Israel for formal identification using DNA.

In Tel Aviv where the bodies were transported, a double rainbow unfolded across the sky just before sunset. Thousands of people gathered at the city’s Hostage Square and recited traditional mourning prayers. Some held orange balloons, in honor of the Bibas boys, and the crowd swelled after sundown as musicians performed subdued ballads, matching the nation’s grief.

“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

Lifshitz’s family said after the handover that his remains had been officially identified. His son, Yizhar, told an Israeli TV station that it had brought some closure to the family. He said they did not yet know the cause of death.

“On a certain level, it closes the small chance that we had thought about,” he said. “It is also closure that he will be buried back on the kibbutz. It’s a difficult day.”

Kfir Bibas was a red-headed infant with a toothless smile when militants stormed the family’s home on Oct. 7, 2023. His brother, Ariel, was 4. Video from that day showed a terrified Shiri swaddling the boys as militants led them into Gaza.

Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately and released this month.

Relatives in Israel have clung to hope, marking the boys’ birthdays. The Bibas family said Wednesday it would wait for “identification procedures” before acknowledging that their loved ones were dead.

A cousin of Shiri Bibas who lives in Buenos Aires, told the local Radio Con Vos station she has been reliving the trauma of the abduction. Romina Miasnik said she hoped her loved ones “can become a symbol of something new, of coexistence, of hatred no longer having a place.”

Supporters throughout Israel have worn orange — a reference to the two boys’ hair color — and a popular children’s song was written in their honor.

Like the Bibas family, Oded Lifshitz was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his wife, Yocheved, who was freed early in the war as an apparent humanitarian gesture.

Hamas-led militants abducted 251 hostages, including about 30 children, in the Oct. 7 attack, in which they also killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

More than half the hostages, and most of the women and children, have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and have recovered dozens of bodies of people killed in the initial attack or who died in captivity.

Hamas is set to free six living hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and says it will release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase. That will leave the militants with about 60 hostages, all men and about half believed to be dead.

Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he’s committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.

Trump’s proposal to remove about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it, which has been welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt.

Hamas could be reluctant to free more hostages if it believes that the war will resume with the goal of annihilating the group or forcibly transferring Gaza’s population.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Jahjouh reported from Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that Yocheved Lifshitz was released early in the war, not during the ceasefire in November 2023.

CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Thursday it would release three more Israeli hostages as planned, paving the way toward resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas had threatened to delay the next release of captives, accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow in tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce. Israel, with the support of U.S. President Donald Trump, had threatened to renew its offensive if hostages were not freed.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on Hamas’ announcement, but it should allow the ceasefire to continue for now, though the future of the truce remains in doubt.

Hamas said its delegation held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar’s prime minister about bringing into Gaza more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble — its key demand in recent days. It said in a statement that the mediators had pledged to “remove all hurdles.”

Shortly after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou confirmed to The Associated Press by phone that three hostages will be released on Saturday.

Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV, which is close to the country’s security services, reported that Egypt and Qatar had succeeded in resolving the dispute. The two Arab countries have served as key mediators with Hamas and helped broker the ceasefire, which took effect in January, more than 15 months into the war.

Egyptian media also aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.

The truce faces a much bigger challenge in the coming weeks. The first phase is set to conclude at the beginning of March, and there have not yet been substantive negotiations over the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an end to the war.

Trump’s proposal to remove some 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and settle them in other countries has thrown the truce’s future into further doubt. The plan has been welcomed by Israel but vehemently rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries, which have refused to accept any influx of refugees. Human rights groups say it could amount to a war crime under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right allies are already calling for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the goal of implementing Trump’s plan and annihilating Hamas, which remains in control of the territory after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. More than half have been released in deals with Hamas or other agreements, eight have been rescued and dozens of bodies have been recovered.

The captives are among the only bargaining chips Hamas has left, and it may be difficult to get the group to commit to further releases if it believes the war will resume.

Trump has given mixed signals about what he wants to see in Gaza.

He took credit for brokering the ceasefire, which was reached days before he took office after more than a year of negotiations under the Biden administration. But he has also expressed misgivings about how the agreement is unfolding and says it’s up to Israel whether to resume the war or not, while pledging continued U.S. military support.

Seventy-three hostages have not yet been released, around half of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.

The war has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel’s offensive has obliterated large parts of Gaza. At its height, the fighting had displaced 90% of the territory’s population of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have returned to their homes since the ceasefire took hold, though many have found only mounds of rubble and buried human remains and unexploded ordnance.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, echoing Trump, said Wednesday that “all hell will break loose” if Hamas stops releasing hostages. He said a “new Gaza war” wouldn’t end until Hamas was defeated, which would allow for Trump’s vision of mass displacement to be carried out.

With far fewer hostages remaining in Gaza, Israel’s military would have more freedom to act.

It would also face far fewer constraints from the United States, its main military patron. The Biden administration, while providing crucial military and diplomatic support, had occasionally pressed Israel to allow in more aid and at one point suspended some weapons shipments. It had also said there should be no permanent displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population.

Trump has lifted restrictions on arms transfers, and his administration is pressing ahead with the sale of $7 billion worth of weapons approved under President Joe Biden.

Trump has said Gaza’s population should be resettled elsewhere in the region, with wealthy Arab countries paying for it. He has suggested that once the fighting ends, Israel would transfer control of Gaza to the United States, which would then redevelop it as the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key partner in Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition, has called for a resumption of the war, the “voluntary migration” of large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements there.

Lidman reported from Jerusalem.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

JERUSALEM (AP) — Three weeks into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the number of tents and temporary homes entering Gaza risks falling short of the goals set for the deal’s first phase.

The looming deficit sits at the heart of a dispute between Israel and Hamas that could topple the tenuous truce.

Three weeks into the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the number of tents and temporary homes entering Gaza risks falling short of the goals set for the deal’s first phase.

Three weeks into the ceasefire’s first phase, the number of tents and temporary homes entering the devastated territory risks falling short of the deal’s goal.

Hamas has indefinitely delayed the scheduled release of three hostages on Saturday, accusing Israel of obstructing the delivery of tents, pre-fabricated homes and heavy machinery into the devastated territory, where the majority of people are displaced and many live beside the rubble of blasted-out buildings.

Israel rejects the accusation, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza and resume the war if Hamas does not release more hostages on schedule.

Getting enough shelter into Gaza has been difficult because aid workers prioritized deliveries of food at the start of the ceasefire. Israeli inspections and restrictions on what can enter Gaza also complicates the process.

The delivery of temporary shelters could soon ramp up. Resolution of the dispute was in sight on Wednesday, according to an Egyptian official with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Here’s a look at where things stand with aid into Gaza:

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas says that during the first 42-day phase, Israel must allow at least 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents into Gaza. It also must allow entry of an agreed-upon amount of equipment for rubble removal.

Repairs to Gaza’s badly damaged electricity, water, sewage and communications systems — as well as its torn up roads — are to begin during phase one. So is the planning process for rebuilding homes decimated by the war. All of the repairs and planning are being overseen by the U.N. and ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar.

Simply removing the rubble — let alone beginning reconstruction — could take decades, according to the U.N. It may also be premature, especially if the ceasefire falls apart and Israel resumes its bombing campaign there. U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s stated intention to rebuild Gaza as the “Riviera of the Middle East” adds uncertainty.

In the deal’s first phase, Hamas is to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas so far has released 16 of the hostages, in addition to five Thai hostages who were not part of the deal.

Whether the exchanges continue, the agreement says, depends on how the parties adhere to its regulations on humanitarian aid, among other stipulations.

Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou told the AP Tuesday that Israel had so far permitted 20,000 of the stipulated 200,000 tents into the territory since Jan. 19, when the deal took effect.

He said Israel hadn’t let any temporary homes in and was not allowing entry of heavy machinery necessary to remove the rubble and recover dead bodies.

A U.S. official and an aid worker involved in tracking deliveries into Gaza, said reports from the ground indicate that no prefab homes have been allowed in. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

COGAT, the Israeli defense body that coordinates the deliveries of humanitarian supplies, disputed that, saying in a statement that it had allowed hundreds of thousands of tents in since the ceasefire took hold, as well as shelter supplies.

But the U.S. official said the number of tents reported by aid groups to be entering Gaza was far from the amount reported by COGAT. The aid worker estimated that between 25,000 and 50,000 tents had entered since the start of the ceasefire.

An Israeli official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 30,000 tents had entered and that no prefab homes had entered as of Tuesday morning.

Aid workers say a number of factors are complicating the quick delivery of tents and other temporary shelters into Gaza. For one, the priority at the start of the ceasefire period was getting food and water into a territory on the brink of famine.

Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said humanitarian groups “prioritized bringing in food during the first couple of weeks of the ceasefire to address Gaza’s acute starvation crisis.”

Also, anticipating “mass population movements,” aid groups held back from sending tents in immediately because people would have a hard time carrying them along with all their belongings, she said. The latest report from the coalition of groups tracking population movement in Gaza says that at least 586,000 Palestinians have gone north since late January and over 56,000 have moved south.

Ramping up shelter supplies so suddenly proved a tall order, said Tania Hary, the director of Gisha, an Israeli organization dedicated to protecting Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement. She added that the initial focus in the first days of the ceasefire was meeting the threshold of 600 trucks a day.

“They’re scrambling to get in all the tents in their pipeline,” she said. “Getting in 60,000 caravans is a huge production.”

There is another factor slowing the pace of aid deliveries: Israel deems some items “dual-use,” meaning they could potentially be diverted for military means.

According to a list circulated to humanitarian aid groups by COGAT, “mobile homes” and large tents require Israeli inspection, even though they are on the list for being fast-tracked. The same goes for cleaning materials, water trucks, generators, metal waste containers, sewer inspection devices and iron waste containers.

Large storage tents, desalination facilities, toilets and showers with certain kinds of metal, x-ray machines and diesel generators require an even more intense approval process.

Mediators are hopeful they can resolve the dispute by Saturday and get the ceasefire back on track.

The Egyptian official involved in the talks said Wednesday it was nearly resolved. He said Israel had committed to delivering more tents, shelters and heavy equipment to Gaza.

The same official said mediators Egypt and Qatar warned the Israelis and Americans multiple times after the first week of the ceasefire that the deal risked collapse if the sides did not respect their commitments.

AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer contributed reporting from Washington.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza and directed troops to prepare to resume fighting Hamas if the militant group does not r elease more hostages on Saturday.

Hamas said Monday — and reiterated Tuesday — that it planned to delay the release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to meet the terms of the ceasefire, including by not allowing an agreed-upon number of tents and other aid into Gaza.

Amid the mounting tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump emboldened Israel to call for the release of even more remaining hostages on Saturday.

After meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, Trump predicted Hamas would not release all the remaining hostages as he had demanded.

“I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline, personally,” the president said of Hamas. “They want to play tough guy. We’ll see how tough they are.”

Since the ceasefire took effect, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of five exchanges for more than 730 Palestinian prisoners. A second phase calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce. However, Trump’s statements about both the pending releases and plans for post-war Gaza have destabilized its fragile architecture.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Netanyahu’s threat referred to the three hostages scheduled for release on Saturday or all the remaining hostages, which would be a departure from the terms of the ceasefire. Netanyahu’s office said it “welcomed President Trump’s demand.”

As Trump spoke to reporters in Washington and reasserted his demands, an Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting, said Israel was “sticking to Trump’s announcement regarding the release of the hostages. Namely, that they will all be released on Saturday.”

Netanyahu’s office also said it ordered the military to mobilize troops on and around the Gaza Strip in preparation for scenarios that could arise.

Trump has said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 hostages aren’t freed by Saturday. Hamas brushed off his threat Tuesday, doubling down on its claim that Israel has violated the ceasefire and warned that it would only continue releasing hostages if all parties adhered to the ceasefire.

“Trump must remember there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties. This is the only way to bring back prisoners,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Tuesday. “The language of threats has no value; it only complicates matters.”

The group later condemned Trump’s White House remarks, saying they amounted to a “call for ethnic cleansing” and accusing Trump of seeking to “liquidate the Palestinian cause and deny the national rights of the Palestinian people.”

It said in a statement it remained committed to the ceasefire, yet did not address its plans to suspend the hostages releases outlined in the first phase of the agreement.

Trump hosted King Abdullah II in Washington as he escalates pressure on Jordan to take in refugees from Gaza, perhaps permanently, as part of his audacious plan to remake the Middle East.

“We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it,” Trump said of U.S. control of Gaza as the Jordanian king stood by.

Abdullah II was asked repeatedly by reporters about Trump’s plan to remake the Middle East, but didn’t make substantive comments. He also did not comment on the idea that a large number of refugees from Gaza could be welcomed in Jordan, where millions of Palestinian refugees already reside.

The king said, however, that Jordan would be willing “right away” to take as many as 2,000 children in Gaza who have cancer or are otherwise ill.

Last week, the top World Health Organization official for Gaza said between 12,000 and 14,000 patients still need medical evacuation from the territory — including 5,000 children.

Palestinians and the international community have seethed over Trump’s recent comments that any Palestinians potentially expelled from Gaza would not have a right to return.

During the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, Hamas committed to freeing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, while Israel said it would release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The sides have carried out five swaps since Jan. 19.

The war could resume in early March if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase of the ceasefire. But if it does, Israel will face a drastically different battlefield. After forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza in the early stages of the war, Israel allowed many of those displaced people to return to what is left of their homes, posing a new challenge to its ability to move ground troops through the territory.

Metz reported from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.