——– Israel delays release of 620 Palestinians after Hamas frees 6 captives
——- The release of the Palestinians is expected to resume when Hamas frees the next group of hostages
DM Monitoring
DUBAI: Hamas on Sunday condemned Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prison-ers and detainees, saying its claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was false and a pretext to evade Israel’s obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement, represents a clear violation of its terms, and shows the occupation’s lack of reliability in implementing its obligations,” Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in a state-ment. Israel said earlier it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners it had planned to free the day before until Hamas met its conditions, underscoring the fragility of the Gaza ceasefire accord.
Netanyahu’s office released a statement in the early hours of Sunday saying that Israel was waiting to deliver the 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”
Hamas’ El Rashq said the ceremonies do not include any insult to the hostages, “but rather reflect the humane and dignified treatment of them”, adding that the “real insult” is what the Palestinian prison-ers are subjected to during the release process.
The Palestinian group official cited the hands’ tying of the Palestinian prisoners and detainees and their blindfolding and threatening them not to hold any celebrations for their release as examples of their humiliation at the hands of Israeli authorities.
Hamas has made hostages appear on stage in front of crowds and sometimes speak before they were handed over. Coffins with hostage remains have also been carried through crowds.
Israel’s announcement, which also accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the month-old ceasefire, came after the Palestinian militant group on Saturday handed over six hostages from Gaza as part of an exchange arranged under the truce. The six hostages freed on Saturday were the last living Israeli captives due to be handed over during the first phase of the ceasefire. The bodies of four dead Israeli hostages were to be released next week.
Earlier, Israel has delayed the release of Palestinian, with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stating that the swap will not proceed “until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed.”
In an official statement, Israeli authorities said, “It has been decided to delay the release of the terror-ists planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the degrading ceremonies.”
Hamas, however, criticised the delay. The group said that Israel’s postponement of the release of the seventh batch of Palestinians “at the agreed-upon time constitutes a blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
The release of the Palestinians is expected to resume when Hamas frees the next group of hostages. Further details of the negotiations remain unclear as both sides continue to exchange sharp rhetoric over the issue.
Previously, Palestinian fighters freed six Israeli hostages on Saturday, with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released in exchange under a fragile Gaza truce that is nearing the end of its first phase.
The release of the last group of living hostages under the truce’s first phase caps an emotional two days in Israel, where the remains of another hostage, Shiri Bibas, have been identified after the initial handover of a different body.
Bibas and her two young sons, among dozens taken captive during Hamas attack on Israel that trig-gered more than 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip, had become symbols of the ordeal suffered by the Israeli hostages.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, masked Hamas brought onto a stage Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23.
An media correspondent said they waved while holding release certificates before their handover to the Red Cross and return to Israeli soil.
At a similar ceremony in Rafah, southern Gaza, fighters handed over Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Men-gistu, 38, who both appeared dazed.
Shoham was made to address the gathering, flanked by masked gunmen dressed all in black.
In the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, hundreds who gathered at a site known as “Hostages Square” applauded and weeped as they watched a live broadcast of the releases.
A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, was later released and taken back to Israeli territory, the military said.
Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim, and Mengistu, an Ethiopian Jew, had been held in Gaza for about a decade after they entered the territory individually.
“Our family has endured 10 years and five months of unimaginable suffering”, Mengistu’s family said in a statement.
Sayed’s family called it “a long-awaited moment” and said they were “moved”.
Relatives of Shoham wept and embraced as they watched his handover, video released by Israel’s government showed.
“We saw that Tal seems well considering the circumstances. An enormous weight is lifted from us,” the family of the Austrian-Israeli dual national said in a statement.
The releases came under the first phase of a ceasefire deal which began on January 19 and is due to expire in early March.
