The military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Monday that it will postpone the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, scheduled for Saturday, due to what it described as “violations by the enemy” Israel of the ceasefire terms.
“As a result, the release of the Zionist prisoners, which was scheduled for Saturday, February 15, 2025, will be postponed until further notice,” the Islamist group said in a statement.
Israel and Hamas have been observing a six-week ceasefire, during which the Palestinian group committed to releasing dozens of hostages captured in its October 7, 2023, attack in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. So far, five exchanges have taken place, with 21 hostages and more than 730 prisoners being freed.
The spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, Abu Obeida, accused Israel on Monday of systematically violating the agreement. “The resistance leadership has been closely monitoring the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the agreement,” he said.
According to Hamas, these violations include delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, airstrikes and shootings in various areas of the Strip, and the failure to facilitate the entry of agreed-upon humanitarian aid.
This breach of the ceasefire comes amid international outrage over the condition of the latest hostages to be released.
Last Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the release of three Israeli hostages from Gaza but warned that images of their return, showing them visibly malnourished, “will not go unanswered.”
“The shocking images we witnessed today will not go unanswered,” Netanyahu’s office stated while he continued his visit to the United States.
The three released Israelis, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy, appeared noticeably thin, with aged and solemn expressions after more than a year in captivity. They were presented on a stage by Hamas militants before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
