CAIRO, February 10. /TASS/. Palestine’s Hamas movement believes that hostages held in the Gaza Strip may be released according to schedule if within the next five days mediators manage to compel Israel to honor all its commitments under the ceasefire deal, Hamas said in a statement, published on Telegram.
"Hamas has deliberately announced the suspension of the exchange [of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners] five full days before the scheduled date. This was done to give mediators an opportunity to exert pressure on Israel and compel it to honor all provisions of the deal, in order to retain the opportunity to carry out the exchange within the scheduled timeframes," Hamas said.
The delay "sends a warning" to Israel, to make sure that it "follows all provisions of the deal," the Palestinian movement said.
Hamas said it had informed the mediators about all cases of Israel not meeting its commitments, but "it kept not fulfilling them."
According to Hamas, the Israeli authorities attempted to "prioritize less important questions to the detriment of more important provisions of the deal," while Hamas fulfilled its obligations "honestly and in time."
Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades group said earlier in the day the movement had postponed the release of a new group of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, who were to return home on February 15, due to Israel's violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas believes that Israel violated terms of the deal when it "delayed the return of displaced Palestinians from Gaza's south to the north, targeted them with airstrikes and gunfire, and failed to facilitate the entry of all types of humanitarian cargo in sufficient quantities, as agreed." At the same time, Abu Ubaida said the radicals have "fully complied with their obligations" under the deal and "will remain committed to the agreement as long as the opposite party does the same."
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said late on January 15 that thanks to the mediatory efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held in the enclave. During the first 42-day phase of the deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The agreement came into effect on January 19.
The latest round of prisoner exchange took place on February 8, when three Israeli hostages were released. In return, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.