In an announcement that put the ongoing ceasefire in question and sparked protests in Israel, Hamas has suspended the next release of captives held in Gaza indefinitely.
In a statement, Hamas confirmed its commitment to the terms of the agreement, which the “Zionist occupation committed to.” Hamas said it has implemented all its commitments strictly and on time.
However, it asserted that the “occupation” did not comply with the terms of the agreement and recorded many violations.
The Palestinian group listed violations such as delaying the return of displaced people to the northern Gaza Strip, targeting Palestinian people by bombing and shooting them, and killing many in various areas of the Strip, obstructing the entry of shelter requirements from tents and ready houses, fuel, and rubble-lifting machinery to recover bodies, as well as delaying the entry of the medicines and requirements to restore hospitals and the health sector.
“Hamas counted the abuses of the occupation, and provided them with the mediators first by one, but the occupation continued its excesses. Hamas calls for strict adherence to the agreement, and not subject it to selectivity, by providing the least important, delaying, and obstructing the most urgent and important.”
Hamas
Israel and Hamas are in the middle of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas is releasing dozens of the captives taken during its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The two sides have carried out five swaps since the truce went into effect last month, freeing 21 Israelis and more than 730 Palestinians.
The next exchange was scheduled for Saturday, releasing three Israeli captives in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Now, with Hamas’ decision to suspend captive release, the fragile ceasefire is at risk.
US President Donald Trump stated that the Gaza ceasefire deal should be cancelled if all the Israeli captives are not released by Saturday at 12pm. However, he added that it’s up to Israel.
Far-right politicians; Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir welcomed the US President’s call for the cancellation of the Gaza deal unless Hamas frees all remaining captives by Saturday.
Smotrich in a post on X, seemingly referring to the captive release, “All of them, now!”
Ben-Gvir said, “Trump is right! We must go back and destroy now.”
The Israeli army said that it will “significantly reinforce” areas around Gaza after Hamas announced it would stop releasing Israeli captives
A Call For Adherence To Ceasefire Terms
Also in the statement, Hamas emphasized that the postponement of the release of prisoners is a “warning message to the occupation,” and to pressure towards strict adherence to the terms of the agreement.
The group added that it deliberately made the announcement five full days before the date of extradition of the prisoners to give the mediators enough opportunity to put pressure on the “occupation” to implement its obligations, and to keep the door open to implement the exchange on time if “the occupation adheres to what it agreed to.”
Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog pressed for the Gaza ceasefire deal to be completed to bring captives home.
“We are in a particularly turbulent period. I repeat and call again and again to complete all stages of the deal, to quickly return all of our kidnapped sisters and brothers, down to the last one.”
Isaac Herzog
He also denied Hamas’s accusation that Israel violated the ceasefire.
“Hamas took a vile and evil step tonight whose sole purpose is to strain our nerves, to create internal tension within us. Its words are empty and false, its reasons are empty and false. We must not fall into its trap of nerves.”
Isaac Herzog
The first stage of the deal is expected to expire on March 1, 2025.
The second phase, would see the release of all captives and a permanent ceasefire, has not been finalised.
The third part of the agreement is supposed an usher in a multiyear plan to reconstruct the territory.
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