An Israeli official says 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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that if Hamas did not release Israeli hostages by noon on Saturday a fragile ceasefire in Gaza would end and the Israeli army would resume its offensive in the Palestinian enclave until the militant group is defeated.

Israel’s defense minister says “all hell will break loose” if Hamas does not release three hostages as planned this weekend

Hamas signalled on Thursday that a crisis threatening to unravel an already fragile ceasefire in Gaza could be avoided even after trading accusations with Israel this week of ceasefire breaches. The 42-day ceasefire has appeared close to failure since Hamas on Monday unexpectedly announced it would stop releasing hostages,