Hamas says there will be no Gaza ceasefire unless Israel releases its prisoners

Hamas says talks with Israel about further steps in the Gaza ceasefire contract are conditional on Palestinian prisoners who are released as agreed.

Israel on Sunday delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinians, in exchange for six lives and four dead hostages released, Hamas in repeated violations, including a “humiliating” handover ceremony He said he was accusing him of doing so.

A Hamas official said the decision put the entire agreement in “significant danger” and called on mediators, particularly the United States, to put pressure on Israel.

The first phase of the contract and a temporary six-week truce are scheduled to expire on Saturday, but indirect negotiations and the end of the war have not yet begun in phase two.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the ceasefire is “unstable” and that resuming hostilities must be avoided at some cost.

He also sought “the dignified release of all remaining hostages.”

Saturday – The start of the sixth and final week of the first phase of the ceasefire contract – Hamas has released six living Israeli hostages.

Like many of the previous handguns, five of them were led to a stage beside an armed fighter plane before being moved to the Red Cross and then transported to Israel.

Hamas then posted a video of the other two hostages on a vehicle watching one of the handover ceremony, appearing to appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A forum representing hostage families has denounced the video as “cruel and unpleasant displays.”

In Israel there was already rage in Israel after Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages at the beginning of the week, including Israel and her two sons Ariel and Kfir.

It was revealed on Friday that Hamas handed over the bodies of a Palestinian woman, not a woman of Ms. Vivas. The group said that there was a mistake and had transferred Ms. Vivas’ body later that day.

Israeli authorities also said that after his death, Ariel and Kfir prisoners had shown that they had killed the boy “with naked hands,” contradicted the allegations that Hamas had been killed in an Israeli air attack.

Israel was planning to release 620 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 10 hostages. Over 400 were Gazaans detained by Israeli forces during the war, while 50 prisoners had been sentenced to life in Israeli prisons.

They reportedly were already on buses in the occupied West Bank prison when the orders began to suspend release while Netanyahu consulted the minister.

Earlier on Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office said it would be postponed “in light of Hamas’ repeated violations, including rituals that humiliate our hostages and the ironic exploitation of hostages for propaganda purposes.”

“The release of the next hostage is guaranteed and it has been decided to delay the release of the terrorists planned yesterday, without any humiliating rituals.”

Hamas – banned as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the UK and other countries – accusing Israel’s decision as a “blatant violation” of the transaction and extending the ceasefire to Katari and Egyptian mediators Until the prisoner was released, who warned that there would be no consultations.

“We have given the mediator a clear and powerful message. If these 620 Palestinians have not been released, we cannot continue to discuss further measures,” he said, a member of Hamas Political Bureau. Bass Naim said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday.

Asked on Thursday if the scheduled release of four more Israeli hostage bodies could be affected, he replied, “All options are on the table.”

“We need to see what past steps (which happens) before we move on to the next step,” he added.

“Netanyahu clearly sends a strong message that he is deliberately blocking the deal, and he is preparing an atmosphere for him to return to war. Palestinians and 620 Palestinians?”

Naim denied that Hamas had discussed Israeli complaints about the hostage extradition ceremony, but denied that they were humiliating and alleged that Israeli authorities had abused Palestinian prisoners before they were released.

The White House supported Israel’s decision to delay prisoners’ release, calling it a “appropriate response” to what Hamas calls “wild treatment” of hostages.

But President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he will travel to the region this week with the aim of getting a “phase 1 extension.”

“We hope we have the right time… we’ll start phase 2, finish it and release more hostages,” he told CNN on Sunday.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages will be exchanged for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and Gaza detainees in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

So far, 25 living hostages and four dead hostages have been released, but the bodies of the last four hostages are scheduled to be handed over this week. Five living Thai hostages were also released outside the deal.

The agreement led Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza’s densely populated areas. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people are allowed to return to their north homes, and now hundreds of trucks of aid are now entering the territory every day.

In the second phase of the Cerez Fire, we should see the remaining hostages released, the complete withdrawal of Israel, and a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli forces launched a campaign on October 7, 2023 to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack. Around 1,200 people were killed there and 251 were taken hostages.

At least 48,346 people have died in Gaza since.

The majority of Gaza’s population is difficult to avoid, with nearly 70% of buildings being damaged or destroyed, medical, water, sanitation and sanitation systems being disrupted, and there is a shortage of food, fuel, medicines and shelter.