Hamas has reacted with great anger at Israel’s decision to postpone the decision on the fate of 600 Palestinian prisoners. Israel asserts there are violations by Hamas during the prisoner exchange ceremonies. Israel released no more than five living prisoners and four dead, the main reason for the ensuing tension between both sides.
A senior Hamas official warned such decisions might threaten the entire ceasefire agreement and urged mediators, in particular, the United States, to put pressure on Israel to honor its commitments. Hamas insisted that there should be no further discussions or actions until the agreed-upon release of 620 Palestinian prisoners was carried out.
They had planned to exchange prisoners in return for the release of 10 Israeli hostages, a ratio of 33 Israeli hostages for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. So far, the ceasefire agreement has allowed for the release of 25 living hostages and four corpses.
Despite some ongoing mediated efforts, Hamas harshly condemned Israel for killing the prisoners before releasing them, saying that one’s “outright violation” of ceasefire terms justifies the delay. The second phase of the ceasefire, meanwhile, is expected to deal with exchanging hosts that still remain.
The October 7 atrocity that launched the conflict from Hamas on Israel, has been damaging: according to general reports, 48,346 Palestinians in Gaza have died as a result of the fighting.