The deputy head of Hamas’s political wing, Saleh al-Arouri, told Al Jazeera TV yesterday that the terrorist group would only resume releasing hostages at the end of Israel’s offensive.
“Our official position is that there will be no more prisoner exchanges until the war ends,” said al-Arouri, on Friday (1st). “Israeli prisoners will not be released until our prisoners are released and after a ceasefire comes into force.”
Hamas claims that the hostages it holds in the Gaza Strip are only military personnel or men who have served in the Army. Israel claims, on the other hand, that it expected the release of 15 women and two children, included in a list confirmed by Hamas in the November 21 agreement, which resulted in a week-long truce, suspended on Friday.
During the period of truce between Israel and Hamas, until last Thursday, 110 hostages — Israeli and foreign — and 240 Palestinian prisoners were released. According to the Israeli Army, at least five hostages died in captivity, with estimates that there were still between 137 and 159 people kidnapped in Gaza.
Impasse prevents new agreement in Gaza
According to Reuters, a team from the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, the Mossad, had been sent to Doha this Saturday (2) to talk to authorities about a new truce and the release of more hostages. The talks, according to information from the Times of Israel newspaper, reached “a dead end”.
In a statement after the meeting, the Mossad alleged that Hamas “failed to fulfill its obligations under the agreement which included the release of all women and children who were on the list provided to Hamas, which had authorized this”.
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy had made the same argument on Friday, reinforcing that the suspension of the truce was taken by Hamas after “not releasing all the kidnapped women”. A source from the group told Reuters that the standoff allegedly occurred over female soldiers. For Hamas, the agreement only targeted civilians, and military personnel (regardless of gender) should be negotiated separately.
The terrorist group stated in a statement that it proposed to hand over the bodies of a baby, his brother and his mother, killed, according to him, in Israeli bombings. Israel has not confirmed the deaths of the three members. Hamas says it also offered to release the children’s father, but that Israel, “which had already taken the decision to resume aggression, did not respond.”
According to Hamas, 650 Palestinians have been injured and 193 have died since attacks resumed.
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