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Hamas raps Israel’s procrastination in release of Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement, represents a blatant violation of its terms, and shows the occupation’s lack of reliability in implementing its obligations,” Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said in a statement on Sunday, Al Jazeera reported.
Israel delayed the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released on Saturday after Hamas upheld its side of the cease-fire deal by releasing six Israeli captives from Gaza, the last group of living captives to be freed under the cease-fire’s first phase.
Netanyahu earlier on Sunday said freeing Palestinians would be delayed until Hamas ends its “humiliating ceremonies” while releasing Israeli captives, issuing a new demand not spelt out in the cease-fire agreement.
Hamas accused Netanyahu of playing “dirty games to sabotage and undermine” the deal.
“The prisoner handover ceremony does not include any insult to them, but rather reflects the noble humane treatment of them”, Hamas said, referring to the staging of the captives’ release, as it called on mediating nations to ensure Israel sticks to the terms of the deal.
Since the cease-fire came into effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 Israeli captives in high-profile handovers, with masked fighters parading the captives on stage. The cease-fire deal does not categorically define how Hamas and Israel should release the Israeli captives and the Palestinian prisoners.
In Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Palestinian families waited for hours on Saturday for their loved ones to be released from Israeli prisons. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society advocacy group said Israel would free 620 inmates, most of them from Gaza who were taken into custody during the war.