Hamas said it will stop releasing hostages because it believes Israel broke the ceasefire. The group accused Israel of stopping Palestinians from returning, attacking with shells, and reducing humanitarian aid. This increases the risk of more fighting.
On Monday, Hamas announced that it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice. The group claims Israel broke the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. This increases the risk of the conflict starting again.
The announcement was shocking and came at the time when the ceasefire was already weak. Families of Israeli hostages asked the government to follow the agreement, while people in Gaza tried to rebuild their lives after over 15 months of war.
Hamas was supposed to release more Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and other Palestinians held in Israeli jails, just like in the past three weeks.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida claimed that Israel broke the ceasefire by delaying Palestinians from going back to northern Gaza, attacking them with shells and gunfire, and blocking humanitarian aid from entering the area.
The ceasefire has mostly continued since it started on January 19. However, some Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, and Hamas has delayed giving the names of hostages it planned to release. Aid agencies say more humanitarian aid has entered Gaza since the ceasefire began.
yet, Hamas’ Ubaida said that the next scheduled hostage release on Saturday would be postponed until Israel complies with the ceasefire agreement and “compensates for the past weeks”.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz asserted that Hamas’ decision broke the ceasefire agreement. He ordered the military to remain on high alert in Gaza and for national defence.
Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was discussing security matters. The security cabinet, which includes defence, national security, and foreign affairs ministers, will meet on Tuesday morning.
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Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters that mediators are worried the ceasefire could collapse. The deal was made with the help of Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
A group representing hostage families asked mediators to save the agreement, while another group of Israeli military veterans accused the government of trying to ruin the ceasefire on purpose.
As of now, 16 of the 33 hostages planned for release in the first 42 days of the deal have been freed, along with five Thai hostages who were released unexpectedly.
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In return, Israel has freed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks and others arrested during the war without being charged.
However, Hamas has accused Israel of being too slow in allowing aid into Gaza, which was part of the agreement. Israel has denied this claim.
Israel has accused Hamas of not following the planned order for releasing hostages and of staging public events before handing them over to the Red Cross.
Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli team had returned from ceasefire talks in Qatar. There were already concerns about the peace process led by Egypt and Qatar.
There was no clear reason given for the team’s return. The talks were meant to set rules for the next phase of the ceasefire and another exchange of hostages and prisoners.
A Palestinian official involved in the discussions said that a lack of trust between the two sides is slowing down progress.
