Hamas says it will stop releasing Israeli hostages, throwing Gaza ceasefire into doubt
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Hamas fighters escorting Israeli hostages to be exchanged in Deir Al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, on Feb 8.
PHOTO: SAHER ALGHORRA/NYTIMES
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JERUSALEM – Hamas on Feb 10 announced it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what the Palestinian militant group said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The unexpected announcement comes amid growing doubts over an already fragile ceasefire even as families of the Israeli hostages urge the government to stick to the deal and Gazans try to start rebuilding their lives in the shattered enclave.
Hamas was to release some Israeli hostages on Feb 15 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and other Palestinians held in Israeli detention as had happened over the past three weeks.
After Hamas’ unexpected announcement, hostages’ families and their supporters packed the area of Tel Aviv now known as Hostages Square on Feb 10 night to press the government not to abandon the deal.
“Every single person that doesn’t belong there needs to come home now,” said Ms Shoshana Brickman, a protester who joined a crowd of around 2,000 in the unscheduled demonstration. “Every single person, all the hostages, all of them.”
Hamas said it made its announcement five days before Feb 15’s scheduled hostage release so mediators could pressure Israel to uphold its ceasefire obligations and “keep the door open for the exchange to take place on time”.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas’ move violated the ceasefire and he instructed the military to be at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and for domestic defence.
An Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would meet the security Cabinet, which includes defence, national security and foreign affairs ministers, on Feb 11 morning.
Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Feb 10 mediators fear a breakdown of the ceasefire agreement. Qatar and Egypt brokered the deal alongside the United States.
So far, 16 of the 33 hostages to be released in the first 42-day phase of the deal have gone home, as well as five Thai hostages who were returned in an unscheduled release.
In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of prisoners and detainees, ranging from prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks to Palestinians detained during the war and held without charge.
Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said Israeli violations had included Israel delaying Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, targeting Palestinians with Israeli shelling and gunfire and stopping aid from entering the strip as stipulated under the ceasefire.
In turn, Israel has accused Hamas of not respecting the order in which the hostages were to be released and of orchestrating abusive public displays before large crowds when they were handed over to the Red Cross.
Aid organisations have said the flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza has risen since the ceasefire took effect, and Israel denies Hamas’ claim that it impedes the flow of aid.
An official with knowledge of the ceasefire negotiations told Reuters that Israel had rejected requests by the United Nations, Qatar and others to allow temporary housing units to be taken into Gaza to shelter displaced people as required under the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas officials said Israel had blocked entry of 60,000 mobile houses and 200,000 tents as well as heavy machinery to remove rubble and fuel.
A woman crying as Palestinian prisoners are greeted in Khan Younis, on Feb 8, after being released from an Israeli jail.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US President Donald Trump’s statements last week that Palestinians should be moved out of Gaza, leaving the coastal enclave to be developed as a waterfront real estate project under US control, have upended expectations for the post-war future.
Mr Trump said Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza, according to an excerpt of a Fox News interview
“I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever – it’s not habitable,” he said, adding that he thought he could make a deal with Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinians from Gaza.
On his return to Israel at the weekend from Washington, Mr Netanyahu praised Mr Trump’s ideas.
Mr Netanyahu’s office said on Feb 10 that an Israeli delegation returned from ceasefire talks in Qatar, amid growing doubts over the Egypt- and Qatar-brokered process to end the war.
There were no immediate details on the reason for the return from the talks, which are intended to agree on the basis for a second stage of the multi-phase ceasefire agreement and hostage-for-prisoner exchange reached in January.
A Palestinian official close to the discussions said progress was being held up by mistrust between the two sides, which have accused each other of breaching the terms of the ceasefire.
Israelis were shocked by the emaciated appearance of Mr Ohad Ben Ami, Mr Eli Sharabi and Mr Or Levy, three hostages who were released on Feb 8, which has complicated the picture.
An Israeli Channel 13 poll showed on Monday that 67 per cent of Israelis wanted to move to the next phase of the deal, while 19 per cent did not. The poll was taken before Hamas announced it was postponing the process. REUTERS
