The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Saturday that it was delaying the second round of hostage releases until Israel was committed to letting aid trucks enter northern Gaza.
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades added that the hostage releases would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to Reuters.
Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, told the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV channel that the suspension was due to violations of the truce committed by Israel "linked to aid [entering Gaza], in addition to shootings and the rising death toll… Some of [these violations] happened yesterday, and repeated today," Hamdan said.
There was no immediate comment from the Red Cross on whether the release of hostages and detainees had been delayed.
Abraham Gutman, an Israeli journalist working for the Philadelphia Inquirer, tweeted that "the grievances are reportedly the number of trucks and an issue with the list of released Palestinians. Tense and delicate".
MEE
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