Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The New Arab that Israel’s failure to abide by the terms was a “flagrant violation” of the agreement. [Getty]
For dozens of families of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, the long-awaited day had finally arrived. For years, they had dreamed of the moment when they could embrace their imprisoned loved ones, and now, the time seemed almost within reach this past Saturday.
Many rushed to the European Gaza Hospital to greet and huge their loved ones. But as the clock struck that anticipated moment of freedom, the hope that had once felt tangible was shattered. Israeli authorities, in a cold, calculated decision, suddenly announced a postponement of the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners, shattering hopes and leaving a ceasefire in peril.
The seventh exchange of prisoners, part of a ceasefire deal agree on 15 January and implemented on 19 January, was supposed to be a step to finish swaps between Hamas and Israel within the agreement’s first stage.Â
True to its word, Hamas released the 29 Israeli captives, 25 of whom were alive and four of whom were deceased. This act of fulfilment on their part was not just a political gesture, but a promise kept to families who had longed for any glimmer of hope.Â
However, as the clock ticked closer to the agreed-upon release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, Israel did not follow suit.Â
On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the release of the Palestinian prisoners under the pretext that Hamas “violated the rights of the Israeli captives” who were released from Gaza.Â
Israel demanded “guarantees” from mediators that Hamas would refrain from the so-called “provocative actions” during the handover.Â
Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The New Arab that Israel’s failure to abide by the terms was a “flagrant violation” of the agreement, and in turn demanded that mediators pressure Israel to honour the deal without further delay.Â
“Hamas had honoured its commitment, and in turn, it had expected Israel to do the same,” he remarked.Â
For his part, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mirdawi told TNA that his movement would not engage in any further talks with Israel until the release of the prisoners was carried out as promised.Â
“The message was simple: Israel had broken its word, and Hamas will not continue negotiations until the agreed-upon terms were respected,” he said.Â
Hope, deferredÂ
For the families of Palestinian prisoners who had waited anxiously for the moment when they could embrace their loved ones, the news was a crushing blow. To them, it was not just a matter of political negotiations, but a painful reminder of the harsh reality they had to endure.
In the home of Khaled al-Deeb’s family in Gaza, preparations were already in full swing to welcome him back. His mother, Umm Khaled, spent the entire night arranging her son’s old clothes, decorating the house, and eagerly awaiting the moment she would finally hold him tightly again.Â
“For years, I had dreamed of this moment, but it was not to be. As the hours passed and the promised release grew near, the devastating news arrived in that Israel had postponed the release for security reasons,” the 67-year-old mother of six said to TNA.Â
“It felt like the world had stopped. I could not understand what was happening. It was as if the wall had collapsed on me, and I could not breathe,” she described. The news overwhelmed her so much that she fainted, and it was only with the help of family and hospital staff in the European Gaza Hospital that she regained her composure.
Her daughter, Bushra, who had spent years preparing for her brother’s return, could not hold back her tears.Â
“We had dreamed of this day for so long. We prepared everything for Khaled’s return, but the [Israeli] occupation broke our hearts again,” Bushra said.
For others like her, the dream of reunification with their imprisoned loved ones seems to slip farther away with each passing moment.
Mohammed Harb, son of Ahmed Harb, who had been imprisoned for nearly a year, sat anxiously with a picture of his father clutched in between his tiny hands. Every few minutes, he asked his mother, “When will my father come home? Didn’t you say he was coming today?” His mother, too, had been anticipating this moment, but now, she could only comfort her son with a hug, a tear slipping down her face.
Ahmed’s wife, Umm Mohammed, feared the worst for many months. The Israeli army detained Ahmed Harb when he and the family were forced to leave a UNRWA shelter, and for a long time, no one knew his whereabouts. Umm Mohammed had even prepared her children for the possibility that their father had been killed. But when she finally received the news of his release, it was as though a weight had been lifted.
Yet that small glimmer of hope was dashed.Â
“They [the Israeli officials] want to kill every moment of joy we might have,” she remarked to TNA.Â
‘Unjust decisions’
The pain was not confined to the Gaza Strip. In the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, families were also left waiting.Â
The situation was equally painful for Ammar al-Qudsi, whose brother, Alaa, had been imprisoned for fourteen years. Al-Qudsi expressed the deep frustration of countless Palestinian families who have endured the Israeli occupation’s oppressive policies.Â
“The occupation uses our prisoners as pawns in political games,” he told TNA, his voice mixed with anger and sorrow. “They torment us psychologically with these unjust decisions. We are not asking for the impossible; we want our children, fathers, and brothers to be with us. It’s their right.”Â
Despite this, Al-Qudsi clings to the hope that liberty for his family members and the Palestinians will happen. “The chains will not last, and freedom will come,” he said.
Ayman al-Riqib, a Gaza-based political analyst, remarked to TNA that he believes this crisis will not last long.Â
“The mediators, particularly Egypt and Qatar, will put pressure on Israel to honour its commitments,” he opined.Â
“This postponement was a political manoeuvre aimed at further delaying and potentially disrupting the entire agreement. Netanyahu‘s tactics are seen as attempts to destabilise the negotiations and derail progress, especially regarding the second phase of the prisoner exchange, which was supposed to begin shortly after the first phase,” he stressed.Â
Out of 251 Israelis taken captive during the October 2023 attack, 63 are still in Gaza, including 36 the Israeli military claims are dead.
The Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,215 people, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s genocidal war has killed at least 60,000 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Palestinian territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
There are more than 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, not including the thousands more detained in Gaza during the past 15 months of war, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.