Avigdor Liberman: No hostages? No food, no fuel, no nothing

Yisrael Beytenu party leader MK Avigdor Liberman responded tonight (Monday) to Hamas' threat to not release hostages on schedule this week with threats of his own.

On his X account, Liberman said that "the response to Hamas' violation" of the agreement" needs to be clear: if hostages are not released by Shabbat - not a single truck will enter the Gaza Strip. Not food, not water, not electricity, and not fuel. Rafah crossing will also be closed, and the Netzarim corridor will return to our complete control."

Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, author of the law banning UNRWA from Israel, said on X that "the Israeli government must do everything, but everything, to bring the hostages home. If the round" of release "does not happen on Shabbat as planned, the humanitarian aid must stop immediately together with the electricity, the water, and the fuels. There's no time or room for games. These are human lives."

Malinovsky complained today that while the UNRWA law passed, the government is not seriously trying to enforce it, as it depends on Prime Minister Netanyahu providing direction and guidance, which he is not doing.

The Prime Minister is currently conducting a security assessment of the situation following Hamas' actions, and has met with both the incoming and outgoing IDF Chiefs of Staff, as well as Defense Minister Israel Katz.

The cabinet is expected to meet tomorrow, though some ministers have requested it be convened tonight, and Netanyahu's planned ninth day of testimony will now be delayed due to the new crisis.

Sources speaking to Israeli media say they believe the current situation is a crisis but not a clear sign of the collapse of the hostage deal, and that there is still time to ensure stage one of the deal continues, with the release of the remaining 17 hostages included in the deal, if the Qatari and Egyptian mediators succeed in their work.

גורמים בישראל מעריכים כי הודעת חמאס היא משבר אך לא פיצוץ העסקה ויש זמן לנסות למצות את המאמצים להמשך שלב א מול המתווכות