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Israel threatened on Tuesday to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if hostages were not released this weekend, while Hamas insisted it remained committed to the ceasefire deal and accused Israel of violations.Under the terms of the ceasefire, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, captives were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps.But the deal has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting diplomatic efforts to salvage it and Hamas to say it was “committed to the ceasefire”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated”.His threat echoed that of US President Donald Trump who said on Monday that “hell” would break out if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by Saturday.Tensions, which initially spiked after Trump proposed last month taking over Gaza and removing its more than two million inhabitants, have grown following his latest comments.”As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock… I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump said.While hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether his deadline still held, and said “Yes”.Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump’s remark “further complicates matters”.”Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties,” he told AFP.Late on Tuesday, the militant group again insisted it was “committed to the ceasefire agreement” but said Israel “is the party that did not abide by its commitments and is responsible for any complications or delays”.King Abdullah, asked at the White House about Trump’s widely criticised proposal to displace Gazans, said only that Egypt was coming up with a response.Posting later on X, the king said he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians”, adding that it was “the unified Arab position”.- ‘No more phases’ – Hamas has said it would postpone the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the deal and calling for it to fulfil its obligations.UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and “avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza”.Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who are aligned with Hamas and have launched attacks throughout the war in support of the Palestinians, said they were “ready to launch a military intervention at any time in case of escalation against Gaza”.Netanyahu did not specify whether he was referring to all captives, but his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the premier to “open the gates of hell” if Israel doesn’t get back “all the hostages… by Saturday”.”No more phases, no more games,” far-right leader Smotrich said, calling to stop all humanitarian aid and demanding the “full occupation of the Gaza Strip”.The Israeli military said it had decided “to raise the level of readiness” of its forces near the Gaza Strip and “increase reinforcements with additional troops, including reservists”.Outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, families of hostages rallied with pictures of their loved ones, calling for the implementation of the agreement.”There is a deal. Go for it!” said Zahiro, whose uncle, Avraham Munder, died in captivity in Gaza.In Gaza, concerns over the fate of the ceasefire were prevalent.”I pray that the ceasefire holds, but… the ruling faction in Israel wants war, and I believe there is also a faction within Hamas that wants war,” said Adnan Qassem, 60, from Deir el-Balah.- ‘Humanitarian catastrophe’ -Trump’s latest threat came hours after Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said the hostage release scheduled for Saturday was postponed.It accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend.But the group said “the door remains open” for the release to go ahead “once the occupation complies”.The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the war has killed at least 48,219 people in the territory, figures the UN considers reliable.A UN report issued on Tuesday said that more than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the devastated territory.

Israel threatened on Tuesday to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if no hostages were released this weekend, echoing a warning from US President Donald Trump that has strained the fragile truce deal.Trump, who has taken credit for securing the agreement that went into effect last month, said that “hell” would break out if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by Saturday.Under the terms of the ceasefire, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, hostages were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps.But the agreement has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting diplomatic efforts to salvage it.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated”.Tensions, which initially spiked after Trump proposed last month taking over Gaza and removing its more than two million inhabitants, have grown following his latest comments.”As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock… I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump said on Monday.While hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, Trump was asked whether his deadline still held, and said “Yes”.Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump’s remark “further complicates matters”.”Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties,” he told AFP.King Abdullah, asked about Trump’s widely criticised proposal to displace Gazans, said only that Egypt was coming up with a response.”The point is, how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody,” he told reporters in Washington.- ‘No more phases’ – Hamas has said it would postpone the next hostage release, scheduled for Saturday, accusing Israel of violating the deal and calling for it to fulfil its obligations.UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and “avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza”.Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who are aligned with Hamas and have launched attacks throughout the war in support of the Palestinians, said they were “ready to launch a military intervention at any time in case of escalation against Gaza”.Netanyahu did not specify whether he was referring to all captives, but his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the premier to “open the gates of hell” if Israel doesn’t get back “all the hostages… by Saturday”.”No more phases, no more games,” far-right leader Smotrich said, calling to stop all humanitarian aid and demanding the “full occupation of the Gaza Strip”.The Israeli military said it had decided “to raise the level of readiness” of its forces near the Gaza Strip and “increase reinforcements with additional troops, including reservists”.Outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, families of hostages rallied with pictures of their loved ones, calling for the implementation of the agreement.”There is a deal. Go for it!” said Zahiro, whose uncle, Avraham Munder, died in captivity in Gaza.In Gaza, concerns over the fate of the ceasefire were prevalent.”I pray that the ceasefire holds, but… the ruling faction in Israel wants war, and I believe there is also a faction within Hamas that wants war,” said Adnan Qassem, 60, from Deir el-Balah.”The people are the ones who suffer and pay the price.”- ‘Humanitarian catastrophe’ -Trump’s latest threat came hours after Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said the hostage release scheduled for Saturday was postponed.It accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend.But the group said “the door remains open” for the release to go ahead “once the occupation complies”.The Gaza war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.Militants also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead. Earlier on Tuesday, officials announced the death of Shlomo Mansour, an elderly Israeli hostage whose body is still held in Gaza.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the war has killed at least 48,219 people in the territory, figures the UN considers reliable.A UN report issued on Tuesday said that more than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the devastated territory.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday told Donald Trump that his country would take in some 2,000 sick children from war-torn Gaza, as the US president pushed his plan to take over the territory and push out Palestinians.Speaking at the White House, Abdullah added that Egypt would present a proposal on how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on the plan, despite Arab nations and the Palestinians having rejected it outright. “I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state, that is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.Trump called it a “beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.The US president meanwhile backed down on a suggestion that he could withhold aid for Jordan and Egypt if they refused to take in more than two million Palestinians from Gaza.”I think we’ll do something. I don’t have to threaten that, I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said.Trump stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.Jordan’s Abdullah was repeatedly pressed by reporters on whether he supported the plan, but said only that Egypt was coming up with a response and that Arab nations would then discuss it at talks in Riyadh.”The president is looking at Egypt coming to present that plan… (then) we will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we should work with the president and with the United States,” Abdullah said.”The point is, how do we make this work in a way that is good for everybody.”- ‘Tough guy’ -The meeting came as the Gaza ceasefire appears increasingly fragile, after Trump warned on Monday that “all hell” would break out if Hamas fails to release all hostages by Saturday.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas did not meet the deadline.Trump said he doubted that the Palestinian militant group would abide by the ultimatum.”I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline personally. I think they want to play a tough guy, but we’ll see how tough they are,” Trump said.But he played down the risk of a longer threat to efforts to create a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas.”It’s not going to take a long time when you know bullies,” he added, referring to Hamas.The Jordanian king and crown prince earlier met Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.King Abdullah is a key US ally but last week rejected “any attempts” to take control of the Palestinian territories and displace its people after Trump stunned the world with his proposal for Gaza.Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to visit the White House later this week, urged on Tuesday the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing Palestinians.”Analysts say the issue is an existential one for Jordan in particular.Half of Jordan’s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin, and since the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians have sought refuge there.In 1970 in what became known as “Black September,” clashes erupted between the Jordanian army and Palestinian groups led by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).It resulted in the expulsion of those groups.But Jordan is also keenly aware of the economic pressure Trump could exercise. Every year, Jordan receives around $750 million in economic assistance from Washington and another $350 million in military aid.

More than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” that has gripped the war-ravaged territory, including $20 billion in the first three years alone, the United Nations said Tuesday.The global body said in a report that a “political and security framework” must also be put in place so that recovery and rebuilding can begin, and a groundwork can be laid for a political process to quickly end the Israeli occupation “and establish a viable two-State solution.”Much of Gaza — including schools, hospitals and other civic infrastructure — has been reduced to rubble by a withering Israeli military offensive following an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. “The interim assessment offers an early indication of the enormous scale of recovery and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in the document, cautioning that it was not a full assessment.”The report estimates the recovery and reconstruction needs in the short, medium and long term across the Gaza Strip at $53.142 billion. Of these, the near-term needs in the first three years are estimated to be around $20.568 billion,” he added. In a resolution adopted in December calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, the UN General Assembly had asked Guterres to provide an assessment of the territory’s needs within two months. The report assessed that with “over 60 percent of homes” destroyed in the year-plus war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, the housing sector requires around $15.2 billion. The commerce and industry sector will need an estimated $6.9 billion, as will the health sector, according to the report. Reviving the agricultural industry will take around $4.2 billion, transport will require $2.9 billion, water and sanitation an estimated $2.7 billion and education $2.6 billion.The report also noted the particularly high costs of $1.9 billion anticipated for the environmental sector “as a result of the massive debris laced with unexploded ordnance and the high cost associated with removal of debris.”The United Nations has estimated that the war has generated more than 50 million tons of debris, including human remains, unexploded ordnance, asbestos and other hazardous substances.”Critically, the Palestinian Authority must be at the center of planning for and the implementation of recovery and reconstruction in Gaza,” Guterres said in the report, which was dated January 30. That was days before US President Donald Trump said he wanted to “take over” Gaza, redevelop the territory and oust the more than two million Palestinians living there. His plan has prompted a global backlash and has been rejected by Palestinians.

A suspension of US foreign aid and possible dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will have a major impact on some of the world’s poorest countries, the Washington-based Center for Global Development (CGD) warned Tuesday.For more than 20 economies, a year-long pause on US aid could mean a loss of over one percent of their gross national income, the CGD said in a blog post.And eight economies including South Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan could face a hit of three percent or more, the group added.The impact is especially severe for those eight economies as more than a fifth of their foreign assistance comes from USAID.The value comes up to 35 percent for Afghanistan, 36 percent for South Sudan and 40 percent for Somalia, the post added.While “US support is too large to be fully replaced,” the CGD noted that other providers’ official development assistance could be refocused and this could alleviate some of the worst effects.The poorest countries are among the main beneficiaries of aid from the International Development Association under the World Bank, which provides loans and grants to low-income countries.Other countries such as Germany, Canada, Japan and Sweden could also step up, the CGD added.”While there’s still time to change course and mitigate some of the worst effects, countries around the world would be wise to act now in response to a less globally engaged United States,” said the CGD blog post’s authors Ian Mitchell and Sam Hughes.US President Donald Trump has ordered a 90-day review of USAID, which runs health and emergency programs in around 120 countries, including the world’s poorest.Less than a week after Trump returned to the White House, USAID told non-governmental groups they would have to cease operations immediately because the new administration had frozen its budgets.

A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced a 52-year-old woman to 12 years in prison on genocide charges, in the country’s first court case over crimes by the Islamic State group against the Yazidi minority.Accused of keeping Yazidi women and children as slaves at her home in Syria in 2015, Lina Ishaq was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Stockholm district court said in a statement.The crimes warranted a sentence of 16 years, but taking a previous sentence into account it ordered her to spend 12 years behind bars, the court said. Prosecutors had demanded a life jail sentence.The woman, a Swedish citizen, had already been sentenced to six years imprisonment in 2022 for allowing her 12-year-old son to be recruited as an IS child soldier.Prosecutor Reena Devgun said she was happy with the convictions but she would likely appeal against the sentence.”These are very, very severe crimes, and compared to other Swedish jurisprudence or Swedish sentencing traditions, I do think that there is room for a more severe sentence,” she told AFP.The court said the case concerned nine Yazidi, six of whom were children at the time.All the plaintiffs were captured by IS in attacks on Kurdish-speaking Yazidi villages that began in August 2014 in Sinjar, Iraq. Their male relatives were executed and thousands of women were taken.After about five months of captivity, they arrived at Ishaq’s home in Raqqa.”The woman kept them imprisoned and treated them as her property by holding them as slaves for a period of, in most cases, five months,” the court said.- Forced conversion -Their movement was restricted, they were made to perform chores and some were photographed in preparation to be transferred to other people as slaves.”Given the fact that she participated in the onward transfer of the injured parties, she is also responsible for enabling their continued imprisonment and enslavement,” the court said. Ishaq also forced the Yazidis, who practice their own religion, to “become practising Muslims” by making them recite Koran verses and pray four or five times a day.She also called the injured parties “demeaning invectives such as ‘infidels’ or ‘slaves'”, the court said.The court stressed “that the comprehensive system of enslavement” was one of “the crucial elements” implemented by IS in “the perpetration of the genocide, the crimes against humanity and gross war crimes that the Yazidi population was subjected to”.As such, the court said “the woman shared the IS intent to destroy a religious group”.Ishaq’s lawyer Mikael Westerlund said the woman had not decided whether to appeal, but said they were pleased the court had not handed down a life sentence as requested by the prosecution.”It was important for the prosecution to sentence her for life,” he told AFP.Around 300 Swedes or Swedish residents, a quarter of them women, joined IS in Syria and Iraq, mostly in 2013 and 2014, according to Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo.Ishaq grew up in a Christian Iraqi family in Sweden but converted to Islam after meeting her late husband and Islamist Jiro Mehho, with whom she had six children, in the 1990s.She travelled to Syria with her children in 2013. Mehho died in August 2013, and Ishaq moved to Raqqa in 2014 and re-married.

In a centuries-old monastery on a rocky hill north of Damascus, friends of missing Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio carry on his legacy, hopeful Bashar al-Assad’s ouster might help reveal the Jesuit’s fate.”We want to know if Father Paolo is alive or dead, who imprisoned him, and what was his fate,” said Father Jihad Youssef who heads Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Damascus.For years, Dall’Oglio lived in Deir Mar Musa — the monastery of St Moses the Ethiopian — which dates to around the 6th century. He is credited with helping restore the place of worship. A fierce critic of Assad, whose 2011 repression of anti-government protests sparked war, he was exiled the following year for meeting with opposition members, returning secretly to opposition-controlled areas in 2013.He disappeared that summer while heading to the Raqa headquarters of a group that would later become known as the Islamic State, to plead for the release of kidnapped activists.Conflicting reports emerged on Dall’Oglio’s whereabouts, including that he was kidnapped by the extremists, killed or handed to the Syrian government.IS’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019 brought no new information.Tens of thousands of people have been detained or gone missing in Syria during more than a decade of conflict, many disappearing into Assad’s jails.His December overthrow has enabled his friends at the monastery to openly discuss suspicions Dall’Oglio might have been “imprisoned by the regime”, Youssef said.”We waited to see a sign of him… in Saydnaya prison or Palestine Branch,” Youssef said, referring to notorious detention facilities from which detainees were released after Assad’s toppling.”We were told a lot of things, including that he was seen in the Adra prison in 2019,” Youssef said, referring to another facility outside Damascus, “but nothing reliable”.- ‘Coexistence is possible’ -Dall’Oglio, born in 1954, hosted interfaith seminars at Deir Mar Musa where Syria’s Christian minority and Muslims used to pray side by side, turning the monastery into a symbol of coexistence.Youssef said it became a bridge for dialogue between Syrians in a country that “the former regime divided into sects who feared each other”.Some 30,000 people visited in 2010, but the war and Dall’Oglio’s disappearance scared them away for more than a decade.The monastery reopened for visitors in 2022.”I didn’t know Father Paolo,” said Shatha al-Barrah, 28, who came to Deir Mar Musa seeking solace and reflection.But “I know he reflects this monastery, which opens its heart to all people from all faiths,” said the interpreter as she climbed the 300 steps leading to the building, built on the ruins of a Roman tower and partly carved into the rock.Julian Zakka said Dall’Oglio was one of the reasons he joined the Jesuit order.”Father Paolo used to work against associating Islam with extremists,” said the 28-year-old, “and to emphasise that coexistence is possible”.- ‘Deep wounds’ -After Islamist-led rebels ended half a century of one-family rule, the new authorities have sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.Assad had presented himself as a protector of minorities in multi-ethnic, multi-confessional Syria, but largely concentrated power in the hands of the Alawite community to whom his family belonged.This month, Jesuits in Syria emphasised the need for healing, noting in a statement that fear had “shackled” the community for years.Youssef said that while “the regime presented itself as protecting us, in fact it was using us as protection”.He expressed optimism that “at last, the load has been lifted from our chests and we can breathe” after decades of “political death”, adding that he hoped the new authorities would be inclusive.For now, Youssef is intent on spreading Dall’Oglio’s message.”We will return to organising activities like he loved to do,” Youssef said, including a march in Homs province, home to Alawites, Sunni and Shiite Muslims.”The regime caused deep wounds between the Islamic sects” in Homs, he said.”Father Paolo wanted to organise a large procession there — to pray at the mass graves, to be a bridge between people — to let them listen to each other’s pain, grieve and cry together, and stand hand in hand.”