The release of 602 Palestinian prisoners by Israel has been postponed after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Gaza, accused Hamas of “violations” of the ceasefire.
Netanyahu’s office claimed that Hamas had handed over Israeli captives in Gaza in a “humiliating” way, using the event for “propaganda purposes”.
After the announcement, Hamas accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire agreement, saying that “Netanyahu’s decision reflects a deliberate attempt to disrupt the agreement”.
Hamas had released six Israeli captives from the Gaza Strip on Saturday in what was the last captive exchange set out in the first phase of a January ceasefire deal.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel is continuing its attacks, and has announced that a tank platoon will operate in the northern West Bank in the first such deployment since 2002.
