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
Israel said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks to demarcate its border with Lebanon, adding it would release five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military in what it called a "gesture to the Lebanese president".
Below are highlights from a Reuters interview with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa conducted on Monday.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed efforts to achieve "sustainable fair, and comprehensive" peace in Ukraine, according to a joint statement published on Tuesday by the Saudi state news agency (SPA).
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.