Hamas delays hostage release, accuses Israel of breaking truce deal

 


Protesters hold Palestinian flags and banners in front of Downing Street as they take part in a 'National March For Palestine' in central London on November 25, 2023, calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Nov 25, 2023. Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

According to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the entry of aid into northern Gaza and the selection criteria for the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were the issue.

Hamas said on Saturday, November 25, that it was delaying the release of a second group of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners until Israel complies with a truce agreement, in a bitter blow to relatives.

The Palestinian militant group's armed wing said the issues of aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip and the selection criteria for prisoner releases were holding up the handover.

The unforeseen setback followed an initial exchange on Friday when Hamas released 13 Israelis, all of them women and children, hours after a four-day truce took effect in Gaza. Ten Thais and one Filipino were also unexpectedly freed.

Israel in turn released 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons under an agreement that mandates exchanges at a ratio of three to one.

Israel on Saturday denied that it had violated the truce agreement and vowed to continue the war to eliminate Hamas when the pause in fighting ends. "We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza," Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said. "We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them," he added.

Hamas fighters snatched around 240 captives when they broke through Gaza's militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, according to Israeli authorities. Following the deadliest attack in its history, Israel launched an air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.

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