Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
The terrorist group Hamas announced Monday that it would be suspending the upcoming hostage release in Gaza. Hamas blames Israel for not following the terms of the ceasefire agreement that had been cautiously negotiated to end the 15-month war. The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military division, cited alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal as their reason for pausing the hostage release. The alleged violations included delaying the return of displaced Palestinians to Northern Gaza, not allowing aid to enter the Gaza Strip, and shelling and gunfire in various areas of the strip. Because of these alleged violations, a hostage transfer that was scheduled for Saturday was announced to be “postponed until further notice” and until Israel “commits to and compensates for the past weeks retroactively,” Qassam Brigades stated in a post on social media.
The announcement triggered alarms among the family members of those who have remained hostages, with many of the families appealing to other nations for aid in mediating the next stages of the ceasefire. The group then said, “Recent evidence from those released, as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt — time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation.”
