Kumar Bahukhandi
Fresh trouble in Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal-Photo – ANI
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is a six-week plan aiming to bring peace to the region that has been engaged in a brutal war for more than a year now.
New Delhi: The Israel-Gaza hostages’ release deal has now hit another roadblock with the terror group Hamas halting the ceasefire citing violations from the Israel side. A Hamas spokesperson said that Israel violated the agreement and targeted Palestinians in Gaza with airstrikes. The spokesman reportedly added that Hamas would not release any hostages on Saturday, and the same would now be delayed.
“The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement,” Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said, reported AP.
“This includes delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed,” he said.
Reacting to this, US President Donald Trump reiterated his statement, saying that the ceasefire deal should be cancelled if Hamas does not release all hostages by midday Saturday. According to AP, while talking to the reporters about signing executive orders, he said that the decision was all on Israel.
However, Trump warned, that all hell is going to break out if the remaining hostages aren’t released. As per the report, Trump said he feared many were dead.
He also added that he was speaking for myself and that “Israel can override it”.
Embroiled in a war since October 7, 2023, the two sides last month agreed to exchange hostages in a move to de-escalate the ongoing tensions in the region. The six-week ceasefire deal had witnessed minor halts previously. However, so far it has been smooth with Hamas a number of hostages it captured during in its October 7, 2023, attack, reported the Associated Press.
Israel has, on the other hand, agreed to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. So far, five swaps have taken place and Hamas has freed 21 hostages while Israel released over 730 prisoners. The next exchange was scheduled for Saturday – three Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
This comes days after President Donald Trump talked about his Caza takeover plan after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hamas also reacted to this and said the ‘US ownership of Gaza’ is an ‘absurd’ plan, and “reflects a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region”.
