TUNIS, February 23. /TASS/. Hamas refuses from talks with mediators until Israel releases the group of prisoners who were to be freed on February 22, the movement’s senior official Mahmoud Mardawi said.
"There will be no talks with the enemy via mediators until the release of prisoners that was agreed in exchange for six Israeli hostages," he said as quoted by the Al Jazeera television channel. "We demand that the mediators compel the enemy implement the agreement."
Another group of six Israeli hostages was released by Hamas on Saturday. In exchange, Israel was to free more than 600 Palestinian prisoners from its jail but did not do this. According to Netanyahu’s office, the release was postponed until Hamas abandons the humiliating ceremonies for Israeli hostages who leaving Gaza.
During the release of five of the six Israeli hostages, Hamas handed over "release certificates" in a televised ceremony amid Palestinian flags and Hamas banners. The sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, a Muslim, was handed over to Red Cross employees separately, without an obligatory speech before the release.
In mid-January, Israel and Hamas reached an Egypt-, Qatar-, and US-brokered three-stage agreement to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. The three-phase deal took effect on January 19. During the initial 42-day phase, Hamas is expected to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.