‘Israel’s prisoner delay endangers Gaza truce’ |
Gaza Strip:
Hamas on Sunday said Israel has gravely endangered a five-week-old Gaza truce by delaying the release of Palestinian prisoners under the deal because of the manner it has freed Israeli hostages.
The first phase of the truce ends early in March and details of a planned subsequent phase have not been agreed.
With tensions again hanging over the deal, which halted more than 15 months of war, Israel on Sunday announced an expansion of military operations in the occupied West Bank.
The military said a tank division will be sent into the West Bank city of Jenin, the first such deployment to the territory in 20 years.
Since the Gaza ceasefire began on January 19, Hamas has released 25 living Israeli hostages in ceremonies before crowds at various locations in Gaza.
Armed masked fighters escort the captives onto stages adorned with slogans. The hostages have spoken and waved in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “humiliating ceremonies”.
The Red Cross has previously appealed to “all parties” for the swaps to be carried out in a “dignified and private” manner.
In the seventh such transfer, Hamas released six Israeli captives on Saturday but Israel put off the planned release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said postponing the release exposes “the entire agreement to grave danger”.
Naim said the mediators, “especially the Americans”, must pressure Israel’s government “to implement the agreement as it is and immediately release our prisoners.”
Both sides have accused each other of violations during the ceasefire but it has so far held.
Early Sunday, Netanyahu’s office said that, “in light of Hamas’s repeated violations — including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda — it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists.”
The United Nations has said the military activities have led to “forced displacement” of 40,000 Palestinians from Jenin and other refugee camps.
In the West Bank as well as in Gaza, families of Palestinian prisoners had waited with uncertainty into the night on Saturday, hoping for their release.
In the city of Khan Yunis, Umm Diya al-Agha, 80, said she had received word her son was among those scheduled to be freed, after 33 years in prison.
“If my heart were made of iron, it would have melted and shattered. Every day, I have been waiting for this moment,” she said.
The six Israelis released Saturday were the last group of living hostages set to be freed under the truce’s first phase.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, hostages Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23, waved from a stage, flanked by masked Hamas militants, before being transferred to the Red.
