Hamas, the military arm of the Palestinian group, announced on Saturday that it would postpone the release of a second group of hostages. The delay, according to Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, is due to Israel not meeting the terms of the truce agreement.
The issues causing the delay involve the delivery of humanitarian aid to the north of the Gaza Strip and disagreements about the criteria for selecting prisoners to be released.
The hostages, captured during Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, were scheduled to be handed over during the second day of a four-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian group. The agreement involves the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a ratio of three Palestinian prisoners for every one Israeli hostage.
Although there were initial reports that the handover of 14 hostages to the Red Cross had started, the process was later halted, according to a Hamas source. However, an Israeli official stated that the hostages had not yet been handed over to the Red Cross and insisted that Israel had not violated the truce agreement.