AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza appears to be fraying. The Palestinian militant group says it will delay its next planned release of Israeli hostages, saying that Israel has broken the terms of the agreement. Israel, in turn, accuses Hamas of violating the deal. We're joined now by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Hi, Kat.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey there.
CHANG: OK, so let's start with this announcement that Hamas made today. What more can you tell us about it?
LONSDORF: So the next release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees was supposed to be this upcoming Saturday. But earlier today, Hamas released a message on its Telegram channel, saying that it was delaying the release of the hostages, quote, "until further notice." It accused Israel of violating the terms of the agreement, you know, saying that there had been shelling and gunfire and that Palestinians had been delayed from returning to the north, but also saying that Israel wasn't letting vital supplies like reconstruction material into Gaza, which has been devastated in more than 15 months of war. This is something that Hamas has been saying quite a bit in recent days, but Israel denies that it's held up any aid.
CHANG: And how has Israel responded so far?
LONSDORF: Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, came out with a statement saying that Hamas delaying the release of hostages as per the schedule was a, quote, "complete violation of the ceasefire agreement." He went on to say that he had asked the Israeli military to prepare at the highest level of readiness for any possible scenario in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for his security cabinet to meet early tomorrow morning. And meanwhile, a large majority of Israelis want to see this deal continue. There's increasing pressure on lawmakers here to get the rest of the hostages out of Gaza - there's still more than 70 there - especially after last weekend's hostage release. The three men who were released last Saturday appeared gaunt and malnourished, and Israelis were really shocked by this.
CHANG: Of course, this is all against the backdrop of the past week, where President Trump has been vocal about the U.S. possibly taking over Gaza and moving...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
CHANG: ...What? - more than 2 million Palestinians who live there...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
CHANG: ...Elsewhere. Here's what he told Bret Baier of Fox News.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land...
BRET BAIER: Would the Palestinians have the right...
TRUMP: No big money spent.
BAIER: ...To return?
TRUMP: No, they wouldn't.
CHANG: No, they wouldn't. OK, what's been the reaction to these comments?
LONSDORF: Yeah, so that's the first time we've heard Trump directly say that Palestinians would not be allowed to come back to Gaza if they were removed. You know, the administration officials had said that relocation would just be temporary. And that kind of rhetoric is emotional and unsettling for Palestinians. There's a history of being displaced or forcibly moved from their land and never returning.
In general, a reaction to Trump's plan for Gaza has been met with strong criticism, not just from the Palestinians but also from regional and world leaders. Netanyahu and his allies here in Israel have praised the proposal.
CHANG: Well, where does all of this leave the ceasefire deal right now then?
LONSDORF: Yeah, it's still holding. There have been hiccups like this in the past week since the ceasefire was implemented, and they've been worked out. This is the most serious challenge yet, though. Hamas did put out another statement saying it remained committed to the agreement and made this announcement now to give Israel time to respond before the scheduled hostage release this weekend. Israel hasn't had a direct response to that yet. You know, meanwhile, low-level talks about the next phase of this deal, which is supposed to start the first week of March, happened over the weekend. But it's really what happens in the next few hours or next few days that will decide if this ceasefire deal will continue.
CHANG: That is NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much, Kat.
LONSDORF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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