GAZA, (PIC)
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs confirmed that the Israeli government postponed the release of Palestinian prisoners until further notice.
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.
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.”
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.”
“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.
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.
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.”
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.”
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
