The Israeli cabinet met on Thursday evening to formally approve the early dismissal of Ronen Bar, who was appointed in October 2021 for a five-year term as the Shin Bet’s chief.

Netanyahu announced his intention to sack Mr Bar in a video statement on Sunday, citing an “ongoing distrust” between the two men which he said had “grown over time”.

The move sparked outrage and further inflamed anti-government demonstrations in Jerusalem, which saw thousands of Israelis join forces with protestors opposing Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza.

It is the first time in Israel’s history that a government has fired the Shin Bet’s leader.

A letter sent to sent by Netanyahu to members of his government ahead of the meeting referenced a “persistent loss of professional and personal trust” between the prime minister and Mr Bar, and proposed his term end on 20 April.

“The loss of professional trust has been consolidated during the war, beyond the operational failure of 7 October [2023], and in particular in recent months,” it said, referring to the Hamas attacks on Israel which sparked the Israel-Gaza war.

The Shin Bet is Israel’s domestic intelligence agency and plays a key role in the war. Its activities and membership are closely-held state secrets.

However, Mr Bar has characterised the decision to remove him as politically motivated.

The Times of Israel said that Mr Bar did not attend the cabinet vote, but sent a letter saying that firing him was “entirely tainted by conflicts of interest” as the Shin Bet investigates the Prime Minister’s Office over allegations of “Qatar’s involvement in the heart of Israeli decision-making”.

The Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara late last month ordered the police and the Shin Bet to investigate officials within Netanyahu’s office over alleged financial ties to Qatar. A gag order has since been issued on all information relating to the investigation. Netanyahu’s Likud Party denies all allegations.

Ms Baharav-Miara – a vocal critic of Netanyahu who is herself facing dismissal proceedings – argued that Mr Bar could not be fired until the legality of the move had been assessed.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an NGO, said it had launched an appeal against the “illegal decision […] posing a real risk to national security”.

Yesh Atid, the centre-right party led by Yair Lapid, said it had filed an appeal on behalf of several opposition parties and denounced the sacking as a “decision taken due to a blatant conflict of interest by the prime minister”.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas invaded southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

More than 48,500 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Israel ended a months-long ceasefire earlier this week and resumed its attacks on Gaza. More than 400 people were killed in the first night of bombing, according to the health ministry.

Large crowds of Israelis have protested over the resumption of the war, as well as over Netanyahu’s moves to sack Mr Bar.

Israel and Hamas failed to agree how to take the ceasefire beyond the first phase, with negotiations expected to have started six weeks ago.

Hamas did not agree to a renegotiation of the ceasefire on Israel’s terms, although it did offer to release a living American hostage (and four bodies), to extend the current arrangement.

Israel blocked all food, fuel and medical supplies entering Gaza at the beginning of March in order to put pressure on Hamas.

In a statement from Netanyahu’s office on Sunday, the prime minister said he has had an “ongoing distrust” for Ronen Bar and that trust in the head of the domestic security service is crucial at a time of war.

aAccording to Israeli media, the vote to dismiss the Shin Bet chief is expected to take place in a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

But in a statement, Bar said while he took “responsibility for the agency’s part” in failing to prevent the October 7 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza, it was “clear that the intent behind my dismissal is not related” to it.

“The prime minister’s expectation of a personal loyalty that contradicts the public interest is an entirely improper expectation,” Bar said.

Israeli Democrat Party chief Yair Golan also slammed the move to dismiss Bar and wrote on X that “Netanyahu declared war on the State of Israel.”

“The  dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet is a desperate attempt by a criminal defendant to get rid of someone who is loyal to Israel and who is investigating Netanyahu and his close circle for serious and dark offences and is not willing to whitewash them,” Golan said.

“The dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet will not pass as if nothing happened. There will be tremendous resistance, we will fight with force and will not allow Netanyahu to turn the State of Israel into a dictatorship of a corrupt man,” he added.

The decision to dismiss Bar comes after an angry dispute between the two, which focused on who bears responsibility for October 7.

The Shin Bet, which is responsible for monitoring Palestinian armed groups, recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures in the attack, which is seen in Israel as the country’s worst security failure that led to its single deadliest day, with 1,200 people killed and 251 taken captive, according to an Israeli tally.

However, the organisation also criticised Netanyahu for failed government policies that helped create the moment that led to the attack.

Still, the prime minister has also resisted calls for an official state commission inquiry into the events of October 7.

Moreover, the decision to dismiss Bar follows several senior Israeli officials who were in charge during the Hamas attack being forced to step down, including former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.

The tensions boiled over this weekend when Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it is found that the prime minister had broken the law.

Netanyahu accused Argaman of blackmail and filed a police complaint.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas had so far refused to accept a temporary ceasefire extension under a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.

A Hamas spokesman called the move “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” on the ceasefire agreement and urged mediators to get Israel to resume the supply of aid.

The Palestinian group wants phase two of the deal to go ahead as originally negotiated, with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

On Friday night, Hamas said it would not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that phase two would eventually take place.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office said: “With the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease.

“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”

The Hamas spokesman said: “Netanyahu’s decision to stop aid going into Gaza once again shows the ugly face of the Israeli occupation… The international community must apply pressure on the Israeli government to stop starving our people.”

Late last night, Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed to a US proposal for the ceasefire to continue for about six weeks during the Muslim Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.

If, at the end of this period, negotiations reached a dead end, Israel would reserve the right to go back to war.

US envoy Witkoff has not made his proposal public. According to Israel, it would begin with the release of half of all the remaining living and dead hostages.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel would immediately start negotiations if Hamas changed its position on the six-week ceasefire extension.

The first phase of the ceasefire that came into force on 19 January expired on Saturday.

It halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

But negotiations on phase two, including the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, have barely begun.

There are believed to be 24 hostages alive, with another 39 presumed to be dead.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.

Israel responded with an air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which at least 48,365 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel said on Sunday it was delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinians in return for six living and four dead hostages who had been freed, accusing Hamas of repeated violations including “humiliating” handover ceremonies.

A senior Hamas official said the decision exposed the entire agreement to “grave danger” and called on mediators, especially the US, to pressure Israel.

The deal’s first phase and temporary six-week truce is set to expire on Saturday but indirect negotiations on the second phase and an end to the war have not yet begun.

UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that the ceasefire was “precarious” and that a resumption of hostilities must be avoided at all costs.

He also called for the “dignified release of all remaining hostages”.

On Saturday – the start of the sixth and final week of the ceasefire deal’s first phase – Hamas released six living Israeli hostages.

As with many of the previous handovers, five of them were led onto stages beside armed fighters before being transferred to the Red Cross and then taken to Israel.

Later, Hamas posted a video of two other hostages in a vehicle watching one of the handover ceremonies and appearing to plead with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to get them out too. A forum representing the hostages’ families condemned the video as a “sickening display of cruelty”.

There was already fury in Israel after Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages earlier in the week, including those of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Ariel and Kfir, who were abducted during the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.

It emerged on Friday that Hamas had handed over the remains of a Palestinian woman rather than those of Ms Bibas. The group said there had been a mistake and transferred Ms Bibas’s body later that day.

Israeli authorities also said a post-mortem had shown that Ariel and Kfir’s captors killed the boys “with their bare hands”, contradicting Hamas’s claim that they died in an Israeli air strike.

Israel was scheduled to free 620 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 10 hostages. More than 400 were Gazans detained by Israeli forces during the war, while 50 of the prisoners were serving life sentences in Israeli jails.

They had reportedly already boarded buses at a prison in the occupied West Bank when the order came to suspend their release while Netanyahu consulted ministers.

In the early hours of Sunday, the prime minister’s office said the release would be postponed “in light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes”.

“It has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”

Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, UK and other countries – denounced Israel’s decision as a “blatant violation” of the deal and warned US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that there could be no talks on extending the ceasefire until the prisoners were released.

“We have conveyed a clear and strong message to the mediators – we cannot continue discussing any further steps if these 620 Palestinians are not released,” Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday.

Asked if the scheduled release of the bodies of another four Israeli hostages on Thursday could be affected, he replied that “all options are on the table”.

“Before going to the next step, we have to be sure that the past step [will happen],” he added.

“Netanyahu is clearly sending strong messages that he is intentionally sabotaging the deal, he is preparing the atmosphere for returning back to the war. Therefore, what are the guarantees that he might take the other four bodies and again not release the agreed-upon number of Palestinians, plus the 620 Palestinians?”

Naim said Hamas had discussed Israel’s complaints about the hostage handover ceremonies, but denied they had been humiliating and alleged that Israeli authorities had mistreated Palestinian prisoners before they were released.

The White House backed Israel’s decision to delay the prisoner release, saying it was an “appropriate response” to what it called the “barbaric treatment” of hostages by Hamas.

But President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he would travel to the region this week with the aim of getting “an extension of phase one”.

“We’re hopeful that we have the proper time… to begin phase two, and finish it off and get more hostages released,” he told CNN on Sunday.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages are supposed to be exchanged for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza during the ceasefire deal’s first phase.

So far, 25 living hostages and four dead hostages have been released, while the bodies of the last four hostages are scheduled to be handed over this week. Five living Thai hostages have also been freed outside the deal.

The agreement has also seen Israeli forces withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been allowed to return to their homes in the north and hundreds of aid lorries are now being allowed into the territory each day.

The ceasefire’s second phase should see the remaining hostages released, a full Israeli withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

At least 48,346 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

After the last six living Israel hostages due to be released in this phase were freed, more than 600 Palestinian prisoners were due to be released by Israel in exchange – the biggest number so far to be freed in one go.

But that has now been delayed indefinitely by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with his demand that Hamas must stop what he called its “cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes”. Hamas has in turn accused Israel of deliberately trying to disrupt the ceasefire agreement.

It’s the latest big bump in the road that’s intended ultimately to lead to a permanent end to hostilities and the start of rebuilding Gaza.

Israel complained about the chaotic scenes in one of the first handovers, saying the physical safety of the hostages had been put in jeopardy. Then, Israel said Hamas had broken the terms of the agreement by not releasing a female civilian hostage, Arbel Yehud.

In response, it delayed opening access for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the north of Gaza for 48 hours. That was resolved when Arbel Yehud was freed in an extra handover before the next scheduled for the following Saturday.

Hamas later accused Israel of not living up to its commitments to permit heavy machinery, tents and caravans into Gaza. It then said it would not carry out the next hostage handover as scheduled.

That prompted threats from both Netanyahu and the US President Donald Trump that all out war would resume in Gaza if the hostages weren’t freed as agreed. With the clock ticking down, Hamas agreed to release them.

And just in the past few days, the discovery that the body Hamas handed over on Thursday as that of Shiri Bibas turned out not to be her. That set off new anger and shock in Israel, where the images of Shiri trying to shield her two young children as they were abducted on 7 October, 2023, is seen as the most potent symbol of the horror of that day.

Netanyahu denounced Hamas for what he called a “cruel and evil violation” of the agreement. Once again, the ceasefire was kept on track only at the last moment by Hamas providing another body within a day that this time did indeed prove to be hers.

All these incidents have shown how fragile the ceasefire process remains. They may also have contributed to the fact talks on the second phase – due to start earlier this month – have not yet got under way. Time is running out, with the first phase due to end in a week’s time.

Hamas has offered to release the remaining hostages due to be freed in the second phase in one go, but only if Israel pulls all its forces out of Gaza and there is a permanent end to the war.

Israel has demanded the complete disarmament of Hamas, which it has so far rejected. The stage-managed ceremonies at each hostage handover, which Netanyahu has so strongly condemned, are intended to show it is still a force to be reckoned with in Gaza.

In Israel, voices on the right demand the government resumes its war against Hamas, while the families of the hostages – backed by much of Israel – say securing the release of the remaining hostages is what matters above and beyond all else.

Trump’s plan for Gaza has brought new uncertainty into the equation. The third phase of the ceasefire is meant to set Gaza on the path towards reconstruction and renewal.

Arab states are hurriedly trying to come up with a concrete alternative proposal in which Palestinians would continue to live in Gaza while it is rebuilt, rather than being removed from the enclave as envisaged in Trump’s plan.

The future governance of Gaza also remains a key sticking point, with Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries all so far appearing to have contradictory proposals.

These issues will require difficult negotiations, which will be conducted amid the constant risk of a return to war, for which some on both sides continue to advocate.

But for now, the mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US may have their work cut out just getting the first phase of the ceasefire over the line.

Benjamin Netanyahu said the release was now going to be delayed until the next handover of hostages by Hamas was guaranteed – and without what the Israeli prime minister called the “degrading ceremonies” Hamas has put on each week.

His comments came after six Israeli hostages, including four kidnapped during the 7 October 2023 deadly Hamas attack on Israel, were released on Saturday.

Only one more handover of hostages is due in the first phase of the ceasefire, which will involve four who have died in captivity.

No arrangements for the release of other living hostages, due to take place in phase two of the ceasefire, have yet been made.

Mediators will be working overtime to get the deal back on track and avert a possible collapse of the ceasefire.

Netanyahu accused Hamas of “repeated violations”, including the “cynical use of the hostages for propaganda purposes”.

His statement came after four hostages taken captive during the Nova music festival – Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert – were released on Saturday.

The two other released hostages, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, were held in Gaza for years – Mr Mengistu since 2014 and Mr al-Sayed since 2015.

The six Israeli hostages are the final living hostages to be returned as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal which is set to end next Saturday.

Meanwhile outside the Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, family and friends waited for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

An 80-year-old mother in Khan Younis, Gaza, told the AFP news agency she “can’t believe” her son would be free after 33 years in prison.

By the evening, Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement by delaying the release.

There was no immediate response from Hamas to Netanyahu’s statement.

According to Palestinian authorities, 50 prisoners who were going to be released were serving life sentences, 60 had long sentences, and 445 were detained by Israel since 7 October.

There are 62 hostages taken on 7 October 2023 still being held by Hamas, about half of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas began releasing hostages, facilitated by the Red Cross, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners after the ceasefire agreement took effect on 19 January.

Initial chaotic scenes have become more choreographed, with hostages flanked by fighters on stages before the handovers.

On Saturday, Mr Shoham, 40, and Mr Mengistu, 39, were passed to the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza before being transferred to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Mr Shoham was visiting family at Kibbutz Be’eri in October 2023 when he and others, including his wife and two children, were kidnapped by Hamas. His captured family members were released after 50 days.

In a statement, his family said: “This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing together. Our Tal is with us.”

Mr Mengistu, who is Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held by Hamas since September 2014 when he crossed into northern Gaza.

He and Mr al-Sayed, a Bedouin Arab Israeli who entered Gaza in 2015, had both suffered with mental health problems in the past, according to their families.

Mr al-Sayed’s release was conducted privately in Gaza City on Saturday.

“After nearly a decade of fighting for Hisham’s return, the long-awaited moment has arrived,” his family said in a statement.

“During these days, we need privacy for Hisham and the entire family so we can begin to care for Hisham and ourselves.”

Separately, at Nuseirat in central Gaza, Mr Shem Tov, 22, Mr Cohen, 27, and Mr Wenkert, 23, were freed in another public show by Hamas.

All three were taken captive at the Nova music festival.

Mr Shem Tov had initially escaped by car when Hamas fighters descended on the festival, but was captured when he went back to rescue his friends.

Mr Cohen had hidden with girlfriend Ziv Abud in a shelter at the festival, but was found and driven away. The shelter was bombed, but Ms Abud survived and escaped.

Mr Wenkert managed to send text messages to his family when festival-goers were being attacked, to tell them he was going to a safe shelter, but they lost contact with him.

Crowds in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square greeted the public releases with cheers as they watched them unfold on a live feed.

Families celebrating the return of the six men called for all remaining hostages to be released.

“Our only request is to seize this window of opportunity to secure a deal that will… return all hostages home,” Mr Shoham’s family said.

Remaining hostages include Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier captured on 7 October.

His mother, Yael Alexander, who was watching Saturday’s hostage release, told the BBC it was “amazing” to see them freed, but for her family it is “very tough” waiting.

“There are more than dozens of young men alive, like my son, still waiting to be released,” she said. “This is the main goal, to release the live people now from Gaza.”

Saturday’s joyful scenes contrasted with earlier this week, when the bodies of hostages Shiri Bibas, her two young sons and another captive Oded Lifschitz were returned to Israel.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,319 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Netanyahu praised US President Donald Trump’s “bold vision” for Gaza’s future and said he and Rubio had discussed ways to “ensure that future becomes a reality”.

Trump’s much-criticised plan for the US to take over Gaza and resettle its population, has been ruled out by Palestinians and Arab nations.

Rubio said the plan may have “shocked and surprised” people, but that it took “courage” for Trump to propose an alternative to the “tired ideas” of the past.

Rubio is visiting Israel on his first tour of the Middle East as the US’s top diplomat. He also plans to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem after their meeting, Rubio and Netanyahu outlined areas of agreement, including a desire to eradicate Hamas’s governing capacity, prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, and to monitor developments in a post-Assad Syria.

Netanyahu also condemned what he called “lawfare” from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he said “outrageously libelled” Israel.

He thanked the US administration for issuing sanctions against the ICC, which last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza – which Israel denies – as well as a top Hamas commander.

The US and Israel had a common position on Gaza, Netanyahu said, as he warned that the “gates of hell” would be opened if all Israeli hostages were not released.

“Hamas can not continue as a military or government force,” Rubio added. “And as long as it stands as a force that can govern or administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.”

Rubio’s visit comes after a shipment of American-made heavy bombs arrived in Israel overnight.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country had received a delivery of MK-84 bombs from the US late on Saturday, after Trump overturned a block on exporting the munitions placed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Biden initially shipped thousands of MK-84s to Israel after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, but later declined to clear the bombs for export out of concern for their impact on Gaza. The powerful 2,000-pound bombs have a wide blast radius and can rip through concrete and metal, destroying entire buildings.

Katz said the shipment represented a “significant asset” for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served as evidence of the “strong alliance between Israel and the United States”.

Fears had been high that the fragile ceasefire agreement in Gaza could collapse, after a dispute over a planned hostage release, which was nearly aborted but ultimately went ahead on Saturday.

The Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas has looked shaky since it came into force on 19 January but now looks the closest yet to totally falling apart.

A senior Egyptian source told the BBC that regional mediators Egypt and Qatar were “intensifying their diplomatic efforts in an attempt to salvage the ceasefire agreement”.

A top-level Hamas delegation has now arrived in Cairo for talks “to contain the current crisis”, a Hamas official told the BBC. He reiterated his group’s “full commitment” to the terms of the deal.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end and the [Israeli military] will resume intense fighting.”

However, there has been mixed messaging on whether he means all 76 hostages still in Gaza – in line with the high-stakes ultimatum recommended by US President Donald Trump.

Trump was reacting to a Hamas threat to derail the agreement on Monday.

It complained of Israeli ceasefire violations, in particular relating to aid, and warned that it would delay the release of hostages on Saturday.

In the past week, the president’s new radical plan for a US takeover of Gaza – without its two million Palestinian residents – has also changed the context for the ceasefire which his administration helped to broker.

So, what more do we know about what has been happening behind the scenes?

When it comes to the outcome of the four-hour Israeli security cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Israeli journalists admitted puzzlement over contradictory and confusing briefings.

After the Israeli prime minister’s video message demanded the release of “our” hostages, the first reports – quoting an unnamed senior Israeli official – said this referred to the original three male hostages scheduled to be freed.

It was then said that Israel expected the final nine living hostages slated for release in the six-week first phase of the ceasefire to be freed, which is supposed to see a total of 33 captives handed over.

Key ministers then began to weigh in. Miri Regev – a close ally of Netanyahu – said on X the decision was “very clear” and echoed the Trump demand. She said: “By Saturday, everyone will be released!”

The far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich – who has threatened to leave Netanyahu’s coalition if there is not a return to fighting at the end of the six-week ceasefire deal – went further still.

On social media, he proposed telling Hamas to release all the hostages or else have “the gates of hell” opened, with no fuel, water or humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

He said there should be “only fire and brimstone” from Israeli warplanes and tanks, with the strip completely occupied and its population expelled.

“We have all the international backing for this matter,” he stated.

His comments indicate how Trump’s post-war vision for Gaza has strengthened the far-right in Israel.

That is said to worry the Israeli security chiefs who negotiated the current ceasefire deal and believe its collapse will endanger hostages’ lives.

Israeli media report that they are pushing for a way to bring back the next three captives held by Hamas on schedule at the weekend.

Hostages’ families and their supporters have been alarmed by the latest developments, as have war-weary Gazans.

The fact that the Hamas leader for Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, is leading a delegation to follow up on implementation in Cairo, shows that the armed group is also trying to get the ceasefire agreement back on track.

Since 19 January, the deal has seen a total of 16 Israeli hostages brought home in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Five Thai farm workers were also released.

At the same time, Israeli troops have withdrawn to just inside the perimeter of Gaza, including along the Egypt border.

The relative calm has allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their own neighbourhoods and brought in a surge of humanitarian aid.

However, the current impasse stems from Hamas’s claim that Israel has not upheld its promises for the first phase of the truce.

It says that this required Israeli authorities to allow about 300,000 tents and 60,000 caravans into Gaza.

With so many people returning to the ruins of their homes – during cold, wet wintery weather – such shelters have been desperately needed.

Fuel and generators are also said to be in short supply – especially in the north of Gaza – where it is urgently required, especially for water pumps and bakeries.

It is hard to verify exactly what has gone into the strip.

According to figures quoted by the UN, “since the ceasefire came into effect, 644,000 people across Gaza have received shelter assistance including tents, sealing-off materials and tarpaulins”.

The Israeli military body Cogat said that Israel was “committed to and is fulfilling its obligation to facilitate the entry of 600 humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip each day”.

It added: “According to the data available to us, since the agreement came into effect, hundreds of thousands of tents have entered the Gaza Strip.”

Despite the conflicting accounts, it can be assumed that issues over aid that Israel allows into Gaza could be resolved by mediators.

“Cairo and Doha are urging all parties to adhere to the terms of the agreement amid political and field complexities that make the task more challenging,” the senior Egyptian source told the BBC.

“The continuation of the ceasefire is in everyone’s interest, and we warn that the collapse of the agreement will lead to a new wave of violence with serious regional repercussions.”

Even if the immediate crisis can be overcome by this weekend, then it will still leave the next stage of ceasefire talks unresolved.

The first phase of the deal is supposed to end in March, unless Hamas and Israel agree an extension. So far, negotiations on that have been put off.

The Israeli prime minister delayed discussions on the next phase amid pressure from within his governing coalition and growing evidence during the ceasefire that – in contradiction to his war goals – Hamas remains a significant political and military force in Gaza.

During hostage handovers and aid distribution, Hamas has sought to project an image of its own power.

Though it has previously signalled willingness to share power with other Palestinian factions, it still appears unlikely to disarm.

On top of this, Trump doubling down on his idea of turning Gaza into a Mediterranean travel destination – after relocating those living there to Jordan and Egypt – has caused shock and outrage across the Arab world.

Egypt says it has formulated its own comprehensive Gaza reconstruction plan – which will not involve Palestinians leaving their land.

The leaders of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are expected to meet ahead of a conference in Cairo on 27 February.

The ongoing dispute about the future of Gaza adds to the confusion and sense of deep mistrust amid efforts to solve the present issues.

“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” he told Fox News. “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”

A clip of the interview was released a day after Trump said he was “committed to buying and owning Gaza”, despite global condemnation of the plan he unveiled last week.

The Palestinian Authority and the armed group Hamas, whose 16-month war with Israel has caused widespread devastation in Gaza, reiterated that Palestinian land was “not for sale”.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s proposal as “revolutionary and creative”.

The UN has warned that any forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory is strictly prohibited under international law and “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.

It comes three weeks into a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, during which Hamas has released some of the Israeli hostages it is holding in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 48,200 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.

In his interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Trump promised to build “beautiful communities” for the Palestinians of Gaza.

“Could be five, six, could be two. But we’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this,” he said.

“Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”

He then explained that the Palestinians would have no right of return to Gaza because their lives would be “much better” elsewhere, contradicting Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told reporters last week that the relocations would be temporary during reconstruction.

“If they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever – it’s not habitable,” Trump said.

“I’m talking about starting to build, and I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt. You know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”

Egypt and Jordan’s leaders have rejected both Trump’s plan and his previous requests to take in refugees from Gaza.

However, Jordan’s King Abdullah is due to meet Trump in Washington on Tuesday, while Israel’s president said Trump would also hold talks with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the coming days.

On Sunday, Trump doubled down on his takeover plan.

“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza,” he told reporters on board Air Force One, without explaining who he would buy the territory from and how the US would own it.

“As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.”

Trump said people from all over the world would be able to move to Gaza and that Palestinians would not want to go back there.

“They only go back because they have no alternative,” he claimed.

Israel’s prime minister praised Trump’s proposal at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.

“For a full year, we have been told that on the ‘day after’, the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation], the Palestinian Authority, needs to be in the Strip,” Netanyahu said.

“President Trump came with a completely different vision, much better for the State of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we are discussing. He is very determined to carry it out. This also opens many possibilities before us.”

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said: “The rights of our people and our land are not for sale, exchange or bargaining.”

“The Israeli government and Prime Minister Netanyahu are trying to cover up the crimes of genocide, forced displacement and annexation which they have committed against our people,” it added.

“For this purpose, they continue to promote slogans and positions which are separate from the political reality and far from the requirements of the political solutions to the conflict.”

A political official from Hamas – which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the UK and other countries – said Trump’s remarks were “absurd” and reflected “deep ignorance of Palestine and the region”.

“Gaza is not a property to be sold and bought. It is an integral part of our occupied Palestinian land,” Izzat al-Rishq stated.

Palestinians fear a repeat of the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven from their homes before and during the war that followed the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

Many of those refugees ended up in Gaza, where they and their descendants make up three quarters of the population. Another 900,000 registered refugees live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war along with Gaza, while 3.4 million others live in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, according to the UN.

Palestinians insist on the right of those refugees to return but Israel has refused this.

Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, though it retained control of its shared border, airspace and shoreline, giving it effective control of the movement of people and goods. The UN still regards Gaza as Israeli-occupied territory because of the level of control Israel has.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz also strongly criticised Trump’s plan on Sunday, calling it a “scandal”.

“I say this with the Egyptian government, with the Jordanian government and with the people who can count on human dignity: the relocation of a population is unacceptable and against international law,” he said during a televised pre-election debate.

Palestinian officials and Arab states also condemned comments made by Netanyahu in a TV interview last week.

An Israeli journalist was discussing efforts to normalise diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia when he mistakenly said there would be no progress without the creation of a “Saudi state”.

“A Palestinian state.” Netanyahu corrected him, before adding: “Unless you want the Palestinian state to be in Saudi Arabia? They have a lot of territory.”

Egypt called the suggestion “reckless” and something that “directly infringes upon Saudi sovereignty”, while Jordan said it was “a flagrant violation of international law”.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it appreciated the “condemnation, disapproval and total rejection announced by the brotherly countries towards what Benjamin Netanyahu stated regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land”.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that a drone targeted the Shaara area, near the town of Jennata, in the eastern Bekaa region on Saturday.

The  Israeli army issued a statement, saying the targets were what it claimed to be Hezbollah operatives “within a site for the production and storage of strategic weapons”.

“Activities within the site are considered a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it said, referring to the ceasefire agreement signed on November 27 that brought to a halt the conflict between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Since the deal came into effect, Israel has continued military action against what it says are Hezbollah sites.

While the agreement called for a 60-day implementation period ending on January 26, Israel delayed the withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon, claiming the agreement had not been fully enforced by Lebanon.

Under the terms of the truce, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south, taking the place of Hezbollah forces.

Israel has also launched a wave of attacks in the eastern Bekaa Valley, also typically considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

On January 31, at least two people were killed as the Israeli army claimed to have struck multiple Hezbollah targets near the border with Syria.

Hezbollah official Ibrahim Moussawi condemned the air raids at the time, calling them “a very dangerous violation and a blatant and explicit aggression”, calling on Lebanon to halt Israel’s continued attacks.