Fearing return to war, Hamas tells senior officials to stop using phones – report
Terror group claims it is still committed to ceasefire a day after it said it was halting prisoner releases, blames Israel for ‘complications’ threatening deal
Hamas has reportedly instructed senior figures in the terror group to stop using cell phones amid concerns that the fragile ceasefire with Israel could fall apart, bringing with it a return of Israel’s military offensive.
Sources in Hamas told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat outlet on Tuesday that the group’s military wing and senior leadership have instructed all senior political and military figures to stop using their phones, as many had returned to using the devices after the ceasefire began last month.
According to the sources, several senior officials have already stopped using their phones over fears of attempts by the IDF to track them via the devices and assassinate them.
The three-stage ceasefire agreement, reached last month, halted some 15 months of fighting triggered by the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel, when Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The deal requires Hamas to release hostages, Israel to release thousands of Palestinian security prisoners — including hundreds serving life sentences — and halt the fighting in the Strip, followed by negotiations for a “sustainable calm” and an IDF withdrawal from the enclave.
Hamas declared that it is still dedicated to the ceasefire, though a day earlier it had vowed not to release the next group of hostages until further notice, alleging Israeli violations of the ceasefire, in an announcement that shook the truce, sparked war preparations by Israel and prompted US President Donald Trump to declare that if the captives aren’t released by noon Saturday the ceasefire should be ended.
“Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement that the (Israeli) occupation also committed to,” it said in a statement on Tuesday evening, adding that “we affirm that the occupation is the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays.”
The Israel Defense Forces, meanwhile, announced that it was “extensively” bolstering its forces in the Southern Command, calling up reservists and approving battle plans for the Gaza Strip in the event that the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas collapses.
In a video statement he released after a four-hour security cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened that the ceasefire would be over and Israel will resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas doesn’t release “our hostages” by midday Saturday.
“If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” he declared.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday.”
The sources that spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat also said that Hamas had recently uncovered spying equipment it claimed was found embedded in stones or ruins of buildings in Gaza. The equipment included cameras and listening devices that Hamas assessed as intended to identify senior officials or hostages.
Hamas has broadened its sweeps to find such devices, which are being dismantled and examined to glean information, the sources said.
Hamas is attempting its own monitoring operations to keep an eye on IDF movements in order to be ready to counter any incursions by special forces or other operations, the sources said.
The terror group justified its decision to freeze the hostage releases by alleging Israeli violations of the deal, claiming falsely that the military has obstructed displaced Palestinians’ return to the northern Strip, and asserting that Israel has prevented the flow of some humanitarian aid items, such as trailers for temporary shelter, into the enclave.
