JERUSALEM

Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday ordered the army to go to "highest alert" for any possible development in Gaza after Hamas postponed the release of hostages, citing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement that took hold on Jan. 19.

Hamas said on Monday it would delay the sixth exchange under phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which was scheduled for Saturday, for Israel delaying the return of displaced people to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire, and preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Katz said Hamas’ announcement constituted an “outright violation” of the truce agreement, adding: “I instructed the Israeli army to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza.”

After Hamas’ announcement, Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extremist former Israeli national security minister, called on X for “a massive fire attack on Gaza, from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel, and water.”

In January, Ben-Gvir resigned from the government in opposition to the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. He has since advocated for what he calls the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, something many world leaders have condemned as ethnic cleansing.

Urging the bombing of aid that has already been brought into the enclave, he said: “We must return to war and destroy.”

Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis, for days local Gaza’s authorities have been urging mediators and the international community to pressure Israel to implement the humanitarian part of the ceasefire agreement, allowing for the proper flow of aid. However, these appeals have been unsuccessful.

On Friday, Salama Maarouf, Gaza's Government Media Office spokesperson, said that only 8,500 aid trucks had entered Gaza since Jan 19, far fewer than the 12,000 that were expected under the deal.

The three-phase ceasefire deal has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 48,000 people and left the enclave in ruins.

In phase one of the truce, which runs until early March, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners. The sixth Israeli-Hamas swap was scheduled for this week.

Last November the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.