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
US embassies in Jerusalem, Baghdad and Amman issued security alerts Saturday urging American citizens to exercise "heightened vigilance," as tensions flare between Iran and the United States. Americans were also told to "consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation."
President Donald Trump said Friday that Israel was "very happy" with an agreement reached by his so-called Board of Peace for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.
Britain has asked Cyprus to extradite a dual British-Azerbaijani national suspected of spying on a British air base on the Mediterranean island and passing his findings to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, London police said on Friday.
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