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<h1 class="gmail-single_title">Hamas says Israel’s delay of prisoner release “grave violation of ceasefire deal”</h1>
<p class="gmail-single_date">Sunday 23-February-2025 - <font size="1"><a href="https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/02/23/334478/">https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/02/23/334478/</a></font></p>
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<p>GAZA, (PIC)</p>
<p>The Hamas Movement has called on the mediators to intervene to
pressure the Israeli occupation government to release the seventh group
of Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the ceasefire
agreement after Israeli jailers were ordered yesterday not to release
them.</p>
<p>Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed over six Israeli
captives to Red Cross representatives on Saturday in exchange for 620
Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to be released later on the same
day.</p>
<p>The office of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said last night that
freeing Palestinian prisoners would be delayed until Hamas ends what it
labeled as “humiliating handover ceremonies,” which are held in Gaza
for Israeli captives.</p>
<p>Israeli police vehicles that moved in front of the buses carrying
Palestinian prisoners reportedly left the Ofer prison in the occupied
West Bank last night before turning around and going back in.</p>
<p>The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs
confirmed that the Israeli government postponed the release of
Palestinian prisoners until further notice.</p>
<p>According to the Hebrew media, the decision to delay the handover of
Palestinian prisoners was made after Netanyahu held two security
meetings and rebuffed recommendations from security agency chiefs
calling for not delaying their release.</p>
<p>Hamas slammed the Israeli government for delaying the release of
Palestinian prisoners, calling its decision a “grave violation of the
ceasefire agreement,” and called on mediators to pressure Israel to
“respect the ceasefire agreement and implement its provisions without
stalling.”</p>
<p>Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif Qanu said that the Israeli intent not to
release the seventh group of Palestinian prisoners as scheduled was a
“flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”</p>
<p>“Hamas has responded to the mediators’ efforts to make the exchange
process successful, but war criminal Netanyahu persists in
procrastinating and delaying the release of prisoners,” spokesman Qanu
added.</p>
<p>He urged the parties that meditated and guaranteed the ceasefire
agreement to pressure the Israeli government to honor its obligations
without any excuses or delay.</p>
<p>For his part, senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Resheq condemned the
Israeli government’s claim that the prisoner handover ceremonies in Gaza
were humiliating as “groundless” and a “flimsy excuse aimed at evading
its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.”</p>
<p>In press remarks on Sunday, Resheq affirmed that such ceremonies “do
not include any insult to Israeli captives whatsoever, but rather they
reflect that they receive humane and dignified treatment.”</p>
<p>“The real insult is what happens to our prisoners when they are
released. They are deliberately tortured, beaten and humiliated until
the last moments,” Resheq said.</p>
<p>“They are released while being handcuffed and blindfolded. Their
families are also threatened not to hold any celebrations for their
release,” the Hamas official added.</p>
<p>“Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the
agreement, represents a clear violation of its terms, and shows that the
occupation lacks credibility in implementing its obligations,” he said.</p>
<p>He called on the mediators and the international community to
shoulder their responsibilities in this regard and pressure Israel to
abide by the agreement’s terms and release the seventh group of
Palestinian prisoners without any delay.</p>
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