Hamas announced this Saturday afternoon that it is “delaying” the release of the second group of hostages because it considers that Israel is failing to comply with the agreement that both parties reached on Tuesday. “The release of the second group of hostages is delayed due to Israel’s failure to comply with the terms of the agreement,” said the armed wing of the Islamist organization, the Al Quds Brigades, in a statement issued via Telegram. Hamas accuses Israel of stopping “the entry of aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip” and also of failing to comply with what was agreed regarding the “rules for the release of Palestinian prisoners.”
This morning, the Israeli government reported that the trucks with humanitarian aid agreed upon in the agreement had already entered Gaza, through the Rafah crossing in the south. From the brief Hamas statement it could be deduced that these trucks would not be reaching the north of the strip, which is an area officially evacuated by the army, although there are still Gazans sheltering in hospitals, UN schools and other buildings.
After the first releases on Friday, Israel expected the second handover of hostages to take place this Saturday. The list of the following kidnapped people who were expected to be released by the Islamist organization has already been delivered to the Mossad in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which acts as a mediator and whose government has sent a delegation to Israel to follow up on the agreement.
Before the “delay” announced by the fundamentalist group, it was not ruled out that Hamas could also release another group of Thai hostages this Saturday, also kidnapped during the terrorist attack on October 7. After a discreet direct negotiation with the government of Thailand, also with the mediation of Qatar, Hamas yesterday released 10 Thai hostages and a Filipino who, apparently, was released by mistake, according to some Israeli media, because the kidnappers did not know your nationality.
The 24 released on Friday – of the nearly 240 kidnapped on October 7 – were transferred to hospitals in Israel, where they were reunited with their families. Eight of the thirteen Israelis spent Friday night hospitalized, under observation, if their condition was in danger.
