Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened that the ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the ongoing war in Gaza will end if hostages being held by the group are not released by Saturday afternoon.

“The decision I passed in the cabinet, unanimously, is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the I.D.F. will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video after a security cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Netanyahu’s comments were made in response to the threat made by Hamas on Monday postponing the next round of hostage releases, stating that Israel had violated terms of the ceasefire agreement between the two parties.

This decision prompted Mr Netanyahu to issue a statement that the Israeli military will resume operations in the Gaza Strip if Hamas fails to proceed to the next phase of the ceasefire.

His statement closely echoed an earlier one by United States President Donald Trump on Monday vowing that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas fails to release Israeli hostages by 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Mr Trump has also reiterated that he plans to remove all Palestinians from Gaza and would not be permitted to return to the war-torn Strip as part of his plan for the United States to take ownership of the territory.