Hamas postpones hostage release 'until further notice' and accuses Israel of violating ceasefire

WashingtonHamas has announced that it will postpone "until further notice" the release of Israeli hostages that was scheduled for Saturday and accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement. So far There had been five hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas. Finally, two days ago, the Palestinian group freed three Israeli hostages and Tel Aviv released 183 prisoners and detainees.

The spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that the handover of the prisoners "which was scheduled for Saturday [...] will be postponed until further notice, until the occupier complies with the agreements and compensates the rights of the past weeks retroactively."

The statement explains that since the beginning of the truce, Hamas "has been monitoring the enemy's violations and its non-compliance" and gives, as examples, the delay in the date on which the Palestinians were able to return to the north of the enclave, which should have happened on the 7th Arbel Yehud, January 30.

Hamas also cited continued attacks and bombings in the Gaza Strip as a factor in postponing the release of hostages. Despite the truce, Israel has continued to attack Gaza, killing at least 30 people. The group also denounced the slow influx of "aid supplies" as one of the reasons for the disruption.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met senior defense officials to discuss Hamas' announcement. According to two Egyptian sources, the mediators of the negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire believe that there is a risk that the truce will break down following Hamas' decision as a result of Tel Aviv's failure to comply with the terms of the agreement. These same sources explained that Hamas no longer sees the US guarantees to maintain the truce as clear given Trump's plans to expel the Palestinians from Gaza.

Pending the second phase

Talks for the second phase of the ceasefire in Qatar are already underway and would supposedly involve the completion of the withdrawal of Israeli troops to the border perimeter, the release of historical political leaders imprisoned in Israel and the departure of the last hostages. Progress in the negotiations has been constantly overshadowed by incendiary statements from US President Donald Trump, who on Monday once again defended support for the ethnic cleansing plan that Israel wants to carry out against the Palestinians.

Trump has claimed that under the US plan to remake the Strip into a "Middle Eastern Riviera", Palestinians expelled from their land to neighbouring countries would not have the right to return to their homes. The president made the claim in an interview with Fox News in which he spoke about his proposal to "own" the Gaza Strip and turn it into a big real estate business.

In the clip of the interview with Bret Braier, released by Fox this morning, Trump responded thus to the question of whether the Palestinians would be able to return to their homes. "No, they would not because they would have much better housing. In other words, I'm talking about building a permanent place for them." Trump mentioned Jordan and Egypt as countries where the Palestinians from Gaza would be sent and expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching a "deal" with both governments. Two weeks ago, Amman and Cairo rejected the Republican's idea. On Tuesday, the King of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, is scheduled to travel to Washington to meet with Trump at the White House.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke on Monday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss Trump's plans to relocate Gazans to his country. Shortly after the conversation, Egypt issued a statement saying that the only way to address threats to regional stability is with an indiscriminate vision towards the Middle East, where the international community also takes into account the Palestinians who suffer "unprecedented injustice" with their basic rights. The Arab country urges the international community to adopt a unitary political vision to resolve the Palestinian crisis.

"Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land," Trump said of his proposal, which He first raised this issue last week during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu., in Washington. Already, when he announced the plan last week during the joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump assured that the Strip would be repopulated with "people from around the world", avoiding specifying whether the Palestinians would have the right to return or not.

The Strip, "handed over to the US"

The president's remarks come after some members of his cabinet backtracked on last week's surprise announcement and said the United States would not use troops to seize Gaza. Later, in a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed this version, saying that it would be Israel that, after defeating Hamas, would hand over the territory. "The Gaza Strip should be handed over to the United States by Israel when the fighting is over," he wrote.

With or without troops, the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and the US taking control of the territory would violate a handful of international laws. In fact, the expulsion that Trump wants to carry out against the Palestinians is classified as a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last week, The Republican imposed sanctions against the Hague-based court, which would apply to its workers who investigate citizens of the United States or its allies, such as Israel. In the order, Trump linked the decision to punish the ICC as a retaliation for the arrest warrants issued for war crimes against Netanyahu and the then Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.

In recent days, Trump had already expressed that he did not trust that the ceasefire would last much longer, while the statements about banishing the Palestinians from his home are giving Netanyahu wings to make the truce fail. This, at an internal level, may interest the Israeli president for his political survival, because he has lost support for the coalition government precisely because of the agreement.