UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Hamas to continue with the planned release of hostages on Tuesday, a day after the Palestinian terrorist group announced its intention to halt the exchange.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Reuters/Brendan McDermo
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Hamas to continue with the planned release of hostages on Tuesday, a day after the Palestinian terrorist group announced its intention to halt the exchange.
"We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to an immense tragedy," he said in a statement.
Hamas on Monday announced it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what it called Israeli violations of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, raising the risk of reigniting the conflict.
Hamas was to release more Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and other Palestinians held in Israeli detention as had happened over the past three weeks.
An Israeli delegation returned from Doha for talks on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday, amid growing doubts over the Egyptian and Qatari-brokered process to end the war in Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Hamas should release all hostages held by the militant group in Gaza by midday Saturday or he would propose cancelling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and "let hell break out."
Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin
The Israeli military announced Sunday the elimination of Walid Mohammad Dib, described as "a senior official in Hamas's financing system" responsible for "funding the organization's military activities in Lebanon », killed earlier in the week at an undisclosed location.
Ground fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah continued through the night of Saturday to Sunday in South Lebanon, with the most intense clashes concentrated in the eastern sector of the border, particularly around the towns of Taybeh and Khiam.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war, targeting energy and fuel facilities in the Gulf, which could again roil global energy and financial markets and deepen a regional crisis.
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