International
Hamas Demands Prisoner Release Before Further Ceasefire Talks with Israel
- Hamas insists on prisoner release before further ceasefire talks.
- Israel delays release, citing Hamas’ “humiliating” hostage handovers.
- UN warns ceasefire remains fragile as tensions escalate.
Hamas has stated that further negotiations with Israel regarding the next steps in the Gaza ceasefire deal depend on the release of Palestinian prisoners, as originally agreed.
On Sunday, Israel announced it was delaying the scheduled release of over 600 Palestinian detainees in exchange for six living and four deceased hostages. Israeli officials accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the terms of the agreement, including staging “humiliating” handover ceremonies.
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A senior Hamas official warned that Israel’s decision placed the entire ceasefire agreement in “grave danger” and urged mediators, particularly the United States, to intervene.
The initial phase of the agreement, which includes a temporary six-week truce, is set to expire on Saturday, but indirect talks for the second phase and a potential end to the war have yet to begin.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the ceasefire as “precarious”, stressing that renewed fighting must be avoided. He also called for the “dignified release” of all remaining hostages.
The latest exchange of hostages occurred on Saturday, marking the start of the sixth and final week of the truce’s first phase. Hamas released six Israeli hostages, five of whom were led onto stages beside armed fighters before being transferred to the Red Cross and later to Israel.
Hamas also released a video of two hostages in a vehicle watching the handover, appearing to plead with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure their release. The Hostages’ Families Forum condemned the video as a “sickening display of cruelty.”
Tensions in Israel escalated further last week when Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages, including Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were taken captive during the October 7, 2023, attacks. The group initially returned the remains of a Palestinian woman instead of Ms. Bibas, later admitting an error and providing her actual remains on Friday.
Israeli authorities stated that a post-mortem revealed Ariel and Kfir were killed by their captors rather than dying in an Israeli airstrike, contradicting Hamas’s claims.
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The prisoner release, scheduled as part of the deal, was halted at the last moment. Reports indicate that 620 Palestinian prisoners, including more than 400 Gazans detained during the war and 50 individuals serving life sentences, had already boarded buses in the occupied West Bank when the decision to postpone was made.
In the early hours of Sunday, Netanyahu’s office confirmed the delay, citing Hamas’s repeated violations and the use of hostages for “cynical propaganda.” The statement emphasised that the release of prisoners would remain on hold until Israel received guarantees that future hostages would be freed without “humiliating ceremonies.”
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