Palestinian terrorist group Hamas announced on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz © Mena Today
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas announced on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
In reply, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement with its announcement and said that he had instructed the military to prepare at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and to defend Israeli communities.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, said that since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, Israel had delayed allowing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, targeted Gazans with military shelling and gunfire and had stopped relief materials entering the territory.
The ceasefire has largely held over the past three weeks, although there have been some incidents where Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire. The flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza has increased since the ceasefire, aid agencies say.
Ubaida said Hamas would not release any more hostages until Israel "complies and compensates for the past weeks".
Another exchange was scheduled to take place on Saturday.
Reporting by James Mackenzie and Emily Rose in Jerusalem, and Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo
The Israeli military announced Sunday the elimination of Walid Mohammad Dib, described as "a senior official in Hamas's financing system" responsible for "funding the organization's military activities in Lebanon », killed earlier in the week at an undisclosed location.
Ground fighting between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah continued through the night of Saturday to Sunday in South Lebanon, with the most intense clashes concentrated in the eastern sector of the border, particularly around the towns of Taybeh and Khiam.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war, targeting energy and fuel facilities in the Gulf, which could again roil global energy and financial markets and deepen a regional crisis.
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