Hamas says delaying second handover of Israeli hostages

GAZA: Hamas on Saturday said that it was delaying the release of a second group of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners until Israel complies with a truce agreement.

The Palestinian group said the issues of aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip and the selection criteria for prisoner releases were holding up the handover.

The development followed an initial exchange on Friday when Hamas released 13 Israelis, all of them women and children, hours after a four-day truce took effect in Gaza.

Ten Thais and one Filipino were also unexpectedly freed.

Israel in turn released 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons under an agreement that mandates exchanges at a ratio of three to one.

Israel on Saturday denied that it had violated the truce agreement and vowed to continue the war against Hamas when the pause in fighting ends.

“We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza,” Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said.

“We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them,” he added.

Hamas fighters took 240 Israelis hostage when they broke through Gaza’s militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200, according to Israeli authorities.

Following the attack, Israel launched an air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive, killing nearly 15,000 civilians, including nearly 7,000 children according to Gaza health ministry.

Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Egypt said that it had received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners.

“It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well,” US President Joe Biden told reporters, adding “the chances are real” for extending the truce.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for “a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression.”

Palestinians celebrate

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fireworks exploded and crowds filled the streets. The freed prisoners waved Palestinian and Hamas flags.

“I was just waiting for the day I would be released from prison so I could hug my mother like this,” said Rawan Abu Matar, who served eight years for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier.

More aid

The pause in fighting in Gaza opened the way for more aid to Gazans struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Israel had placed Gaza under near-total siege.

Trucks carrying supplies including fuel, food and medicines began moving into Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday, and more entered on Saturday.

In Rafah, many waited to fill gas canisters for cooking. “All the people are hoping and ready for it to make their lives easier,” said one resident, Ezzeddine Abu Omeira.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

Since the truce, thousands have been returning to what is left of their homes.

“We are civilians,” said Mahmud Masood, standing in front of flattened buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza. “Why have they destroyed our houses?”

A woman sat on top of a mound of debris with her head in her hands, crying.

In southern Gaza, AFPTV drone images showed people walking or riding in donkey carts along paths cleared through piles of rubble.

The Hamas-run health ministry said seven people were wounded on Saturday when Israeli soldiers opened fire to discourage people from making the journey.