Hamas blames Israel of ceasefire violations, stops freeing captives

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Monday announced it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what the group said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.The unexpected announcement comes amid growing doubts over an already fragile ceasefire even as families of the Israeli hostages urge the government to stick to the deal and Gazans try to start rebuilding their lives in the shattered enclave.Hamas was to release some Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners as had happened over the past three weeks.Hamas military wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida said Israeli violations had included Israel delaying Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, targeting Palestinians with Israeli shelling and gunfire and stopping aid from entering the strip.The ceasefire has largely held since it began January 19, although there have been some incidents where Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. The amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza has increased since the ceasefire, aid agencies say.Ubaida said the next scheduled release of hostages on Saturday would be postponed until Israel complies with the ceasefire agreement and "compensates for the past weeks".Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas' announcement violated the ceasefire deal and that he had instructed the military to prepare at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and to defend Israeli communities.An Israeli official said the prime minister was holding security consultations. The security cabinet of select ministers, including defence, national security and foreign affairs, would meet Tuesday morning, the official said.Two Egyptian security sources said mediators fear a breakdown of the ceasefire agreement. Qatar and Egypt brokered the deal alongside the US.Earlier, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said an Israeli delegation had returned from ceasefire talks in Qatar.There were no immediate details on the reason for the return from the talks, which are intended to agree the basis for a second stage of the multi-phase ceasefire agreement and hostage-for-prisoner exchange reached last month.US President Donald Trump's statements that Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza, leaving the coastal enclave to be developed as a waterfront real estate project under US control have upended expectations for the postwar future.Gazans have no right of return: TrumpUS President Donald Trump said Palestinians would not have the right of return to the Gaza Strip under his proposal to redevelop the enclave, according to excerpts from a Fox News interview.Trump added that he thought he could make a deal with Jordan and Egypt to take the displaced Palestinians, saying the US gives the two countries "billions and billions of dollars a year."Asked if Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza, Trump told Fox: "No, they wouldn't because they're going to have much better housing."Trump's plan for Gaza 'doomed'Hamas' Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said Monday that the plans of the West, the United States and US President Donald Trump for the Gaza Strip were "doomed". "We will bring them down as we brought down the projects before them," he said during a commemoration of the 46th anniversary of the Iranian revolution in Tehran.