The truce which came into effect last month largely halted more than 15 months of war, but has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting a new push by mediators Qatar and Egypt to salvage it.
“A delegation headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, head of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, arrived in Cairo and began meetings with Egyptian officials,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.
It added that the delegation, led by Hamas’s chief negotiator, was monitoring “the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.”
A senior Hamas official told AFP the delegation “will discuss ways to end the current crisis and ensure the (Israeli) occupation’s commitment to implementing the agreement.”
On Tuesday Israel warned that it could resume fighting if hostages are not released by Saturday, echoing a threat by US President Donald Trump who said “hell” would break out if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by that day.
A sixth hostage-prisoner exchange under the truce deal was scheduled for Saturday, but earlier this week Hamas had announced it was postponing the upcoming release, citing Israel’s failure to allow the entry of key humanitarian aid into Gaza.
A diplomat familiar with the talks said that mediators were engaged with both Israel and Hamas to resolve the dispute and ensure the implementation of the long elusive agreement.
“Mediators are engaging with both Israel and Hamas to try to solve the current issues and ensure both parties of the conflict adhere to the ceasefire and hostage release agreement in place,” the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the group demanded that Israel “adhere to the agreed humanitarian protocol.”
“The Israeli occupation is evading the implementation of several provisions of the ceasefire agreement,” Qassem said in a separate statement.
“Our position is clear, and we will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats. Israel must commit to implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement” to secure the release of its hostages, he said.
The spokesman added that talks with mediators were ongoing to ensure the agreement’s implementation.
“We have received assurances from mediators that efforts are being made to compel the occupation to uphold the ceasefire terms in Gaza,” said Qassem.
A Palestinian source familiar with the issue earlier told AFP that mediators Egypt and Qatar were “working intensively” to resolve the crisis surround the ceasefire deal.
The Houthis are ready to mount attacks on Israel if it resumes its assault on Gaza and does not commit to the ceasefire deal, the group’s leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi said on Tuesday.
The Houthis had attacked Israeli and other vessels in the Red Sea, disturbing global shipping lanes, in what they said were acts of solidarity with Gaza’s Palestinians during Israel’s war with Hamas.
“Our hands are on the trigger and we are ready to immediately escalate against the Israeli enemy if it returns to escalation in the Gaza Strip,” Al-Houthi said in a televised speech.
The Gaza ceasefire deal appears fragile after Hamas said it would stop releasing Israeli hostages over what the Palestinian militant group called Israeli violations of the agreement.
In response, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to be at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and for domestic defense.
The Houthis, part of Iran’s anti-Israel and anti-Western regional alliance known as the Axis of Resistance, have also launched missiles and drones toward Israel, hundreds of kilometers to the north.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and resume its fight against Hamas if the militant group does not go ahead with the next scheduled release of 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 enough tents and other aid into Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to call for the release of even more remaining hostages on Saturday, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether
Netanyahu’s threat referred to the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza, or just the three scheduled for release on Saturday.
Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli official said Netanyahu ordered the army to add more troops in and around the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday,” according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Israel had signaled Monday it planned to reinforce defenses along the Gaza border. The all-scenario plan was announced during a four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet that focused on Hamas’ threat, which risks jeopardizing the three-week-old ceasefire.
So far, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
President Donald 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 on 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 is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to take in refugees from Gaza — perhaps permanently — as part of his audacious plan to remake the Middle East.
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, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
But if Israel resumes the war, it 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.
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 enough tents and other aid into Gaza.
US President Donald Trump has emboldened Israel to call for the release of even more remaining hostages on Saturday, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether
Earlier Tuesday, an Israeli official said Netanyahu ordered the army to add more troops in and around the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday,” according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
Israel had signaled Monday it planned to reinforce defenses along the Gaza border. The all-scenario plan was announced during a four-hour meeting between Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet that focused on Hamas’ threat, which risks jeopardizing the three-week-old ceasefire.
So far, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
President Donald 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 on 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 is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday as he escalates pressure on the Arab nation to take in refugees from Gaza — perhaps permanently — as part of his audacious plan to remake the Middle East.
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, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
But if Israel resumes the war, it 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.
