Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Katz prepare for possible war in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are going south today (Thursday) to meet with senior IDF officers in Southern Command to discuss operational plans and preparations for the future.

This visit comes as the hostage deal still seems to be in flux, with Hamas claiming that Prime Minister Netanyahu has agreed to the terrorist group's original demands when it declared a suspension of hostage releases, and Netanyahu's office and spokesperson both denying the same.

Al-Jazeera, a Qatari media outlet that Israel has banned from the country on the grounds of helping Hamas, showed footage of caravans and heavy equipment ready to enter the Gaza Strip.

This led to a great deal of criticism and denials from Netanyahu's office, as it appeared to show him making concessions to the terrorist group instead of working to free even more hostages, supported by President Donald Trump's statement that either all the hostages are released by noon Saturday or the ceasefire will be cancelled and "all hell" will break loose.

While Netanyahu's cabinet generally approved this ultimatum, no vote appears to have actually been taken on any of its content. Moreover, different Israeli sources say different things about what the Israeli government itself wants on Saturday - the scheduled three hostages, all nine living hostages for the first phase of the deal, or all hostages, without exception.

Trump himself and people around him have insisted that the President is very serious about his deadline, including hostage envoy Steve Witkoff, though no-one is willing to say what the United States will do if the deadline comes and goes without all the hostages being released.

The IDF has been preparing for a possible renewal of the war ever since Hamas said it was suspending hostage releases, including a possible massive attack from the Gaza Strip in the style of October 7.