The UN chief called on Hamas Tuesday to proceed with planned releases of Israeli hostages, after the Palestinian militants threatened to postpone further hostage-prisoner exchanges agreed under a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
“We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to immense tragedy,” Antonio Guterres said on X, appealing “to Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages”.
“Both sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and resume serious negotiations.”
The ceasefire that went into effect on January 19 largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and saw five groups of Israeli hostages freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
But on Monday, Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said the next hostage release due to take place on Saturday would be “postponed until further notice”.
It accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans on Sunday.
Hamas later said it announced the delay five days in advance to give mediators time to push Israel to comply.
Following the statement, Israel said its military was readying for “any possible scenario”.
The pressure rose further after US President Donald Trump said he would call for an end to the ceasefire if all Israeli hostages were not freed by noon on Saturday.
He had already hiked tensions with a proposal to take over Gaza and remove its more than two million inhabitants.
