Hamas has said the next hostage release scheduled to take place in Gaza on Saturday will be postponed, accusing Israel of breaking the ceasefire deal.
In a post on X, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said that the handover of the prisoners “who were scheduled to be released next Saturday … will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to and compensates for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively.”
He added: “We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation commits to them.”
In response to Hamas’ announcement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he has instructed the country’s military to “prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza.”
The defense minister described Hamas’ move as a “complete violation of the ceasefire agreement and the deal to release the hostages.”
Israel’s far-right former minister of national security, Itamar Ben Gvir, said Israel should respond with a “massive attack on Gaza.”
“Hamas’ announcement must have one real-life response: a massive attack on Gaza, from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel and water, and including the bombing of aid packages that have already been brought in and are in Hamas’ hands in Gaza,” Ben Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, said in a Monday statement.
Hamas and Israel have each accused the other of violating the agreement throughout the first phase of the deal, raising questions about whether the ceasefire that took more than 15 months to reach would hold.
Hamas released three hostages on Saturday in the latest exchange since a ceasefire went into effect on January 19.
In exchange, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners, of whom 18 were serving life sentences. The majority had been detained in Gaza since October 7 and had no public charges against them.
Hamas has now released a total of 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, of a total of 33 promised at staggered intervals during this stage. Eight of those 33 are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Following the release of the three hostages on Saturday, Hamas and its allies still hold a total of 73 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, of 251 initially taken. Three additional hostages, held captive since 2014, are still in Gaza.
Under an agreement signed in Qatar last month, negotiations to begin a second phase were supposed to begin on Monday.
Earlier Monday, the Hamas-run Gaza Government Media Office said Israel had refused to allow the entry of shelter supplies specified in the ceasefire agreement
This is a developing story and will be updated.