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Hamasi on Monday said he was postponing the release of Israeli hostages scheduled for this Saturday “until further announcement”, accusing Israel of not adhering to a complex ceasefire agreement between the two parties.
The mass is the latest-and potentially more serious-in a series of disputes that have threatened the fragile agreement, which came into force three weeks ago, prohibiting the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Under the conditions of the three -phase agreement, Hamas is gradually liberating some of the Israeli hostages he holds in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
However, while five exchanges occurred, the Palestinian militant group has accused Israel of violating various aspects of the agreement.
He said Israel had delayed the return of the Palestinians to North Gaza, opened fire in several areas and limited the entry of humanitarian aid to the shredded enclave.
As a result, Hamas said it would postpone the next launch of the hostages until Israel “matches the deal and compensates for weeks in retroactively.”
But in a second statement a few hours later, Hamas appeared to soften her position a little, saying that “intentionally” made his announcement five days before the other exchange in order to give the mediators time for “pressure (Israel) to enforce his obligations”.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz calls Hamas’ announcement a “complete violation of the ceasefire agreement”, and said he had ordered the Israeli army “to prepare at the highest level of alarm for any possible scenario in Gaza and defended the southern Israeli communities of the southern Israeli of Israel.
Both sides have traded charges of violating the agreement over the past three weeks, resulting in some exchanges to be briefly delayed, but without hindering the agreement.
However, a person acquainted with the situation said the last saliva was one of the most serious so far. “It feels like everything is in question,” the person added.
In the first part of the agreement it was thrown by the US -led brokers, Hamas was intended to issue 33 Israeli hostages, including all children, women and men over 50.
By Saturday, she had released 21 of them in exchange for the release of more than 700 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas also released five Thai workers, who seized them during the October 7th attack on Israel that caused the war.
The second phase of the agreement, in which Hamas aims to issue all the remaining live hostages – in exchange for hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli attraction from Gaza and a permanent end of fighting – will start in March.
But negotiations have not yet begun in detail. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strong pressure from his far-right allies to resume the war when the first phase last week said he would continue fighting until Hamas was destroyed, casting doubt on phase chances second by entering effect.
The prospects of a long -term deal have been questioned by US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he wants the US to take over Gaza and restore its population of more than 2 million people elsewhere.
The idea has provoked strong opposition from the Palestinians, the Arab world and much of the international community.
In an excerpt from an interview with the Fox News that would be broadcast later on Monday, Trump said the Palestinians who left under his plan would not have the right to return “because they would have much better shelter.” This opposed US officials who had suggested their restoration would be temporary.
“I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to come back now. . . It’s not habitable, “he said.” Think of it as a real estate development for the future. “
Trump also repeated his claim that he would persuade Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinian refugees, something they have repeatedly excluded.
Other Western and Arab states have argued Palestinian authority – which exercises limited control in parts of the occupied west coast – must take over the governance of Gaza after the war is over.
In the sign of the efforts to strengthen its international position, its president, Mahmoud Abbas, issued a decree on the arrangement of a controversial system that paid benefits to the families of Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted of Attacks that killed the Israelis.
The US and Israel have long criticized the system, saying he rewarded violence against the Jewish state, as payments were linked to the duration of a prisoner had spent in prison. According to the new system, the benefits will be related to the financial needs of the households.
