Hamas, claiming Israel is violating Gaza ceasefire, says it will stop releasing hostages

Two Egyptian security sources told Reuters on Monday mediators fear a breakdown of the ceasefire agreement. Qatar and Egypt brokered the deal alongside the United States.

A group representing hostage families called on mediators to rescue the deal, while another group representing Israeli military veterans accused the government of intentionally sabotaging the ceasefire.

Hostage release

So far, 16 of the 33 hostages to be released in the first 42-day phase of the deal have come home, as well as five Thai hostages who were returned in an unscheduled release.

In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of prisoners and detainees, including prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks and Palestinians detained during the war and held without charge.

But Hamas has accused Israel of dragging its feet on allowing aid into Gaza, one of the conditions of the first phase of the agreement, a charge Israel has rejected as untrue.

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 have been handed over to the Red Cross.

Earlier, Netanyahu’s office had said an Israeli delegation had returned from ceasefire talks in Qatar, amid already growing doubts over the Egyptian and Qatari-brokered process to end the war.

There was no immediate explanation. The talks are intended to agree the basis for a second stage of the multi-phase ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange accord reached last month.

A Palestinian official close to the discussions said progress was being held up by mistrust between the two sides.

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 U.S. control, have upended expectations for the postwar future.

Fox News on Monday released an excerpt of an interview with Trump in which he said Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza.

“I’m talking about building a permanent place for them” because “it’ll be years before (Gaza is) habitable,” he said. Trump said he thought he could make a deal with Egypt and Jordan to take them.

On his return to Israel over the weekend from Washington, Netanyahu praised Trump’s ideas.

This irritated Egypt, where security sources said Israel was “putting up roadblocks” to the smooth progress of the ceasefire deal, including delays to withdrawing its troops and continuing aerial surveillance.

Talks on a second stage of the ceasefire deal, to agree the release of the remaining hostages and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, began last week but have shown little sign of serious progress.

Israelis were shocked by the emaciated appearance of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, three hostages who were released on Saturday, 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