Israel orders extra troops around Gaza as ceasefire shows signs of faltering

Israeli soldiers gather by the border with the Gaza Strip (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the army to beef up troops in and around the Gaza Strip after Hamas threatened to call off a scheduled hostage release on Saturday, an Israeli official said.

The official said Mr Netanyahu also ordered officials “to prepare for every scenario if Hamas doesn’t release our hostages this Saturday”.

The preparation plans come after Mr Netanyahu met his Security Cabinet for four hours on Tuesday to discuss Hamas’s threat, which has put the fragile ceasefire agreement in danger.

Mr Netanyahu speaks to reporters in the US (J Scott Applewhite/AP)

Under the ceasefire, Hamas has released 21 hostages in a series of exchanges for Palestinian prisoners.

But it said on Monday it was delaying the next release of three more hostages after accusing Israel of failing to allow enough aid into Gaza under the deal.

US President Donald Trump has said Israel should cancel the entire ceasefire if all of the roughly 70 hostages held by Hamas are not freed by Saturday.

The Israeli official was not clear if Mr Netanyahu’s order referred to all hostages, or the three scheduled for release on Saturday.