Israeli, Hamas delegations to reach Cairo today for talks
A delegation of senior Israeli officials led by Mossad Chief David Barnea will reach Cairo on Monday for indirect mediatory talks with Hamas.
The deal between Hamas and Israel on hostage release in exchange of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was saved by urgent intervention of Egypt and Qatar after the Palestinian militant group accused Israel of breaking the humanitarian truce agreement by blocking aid trucks.
Hamas said that it is delaying the release of second batch of Israeli hostages after Israel’s violated the deal, a charge Israel has denied. However, after the intervention, it finally released a second batch of 13 Israeli hostages.
Earlier in a statement, Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it has decided to delay the release of the second batch of hostages until Israel commits to letting aid trucks into northern Gaza.
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The Qassam Brigades accused Israel of not following the terms of the agreement for hostage releases and said that not allowing aid lorries into northern Gaza is one of the reasons that it has delayed the release of Israeli hostages today.
According to a senior Hamas official, Israel allowed only three of the 100 humanitarian aid trucks to reach northern Gaza. He also claimed
He also said that Israel violated the ceasefire agreement by flying drones over southern Gaza.
Earlier on Friday, Hamas freed 24 hostages, including 13 Israelis, 10 This and one Filipino nationals. In exchange, Israel also released 39 Palestinians who were lodged in Israeli prisons.
As per the deal, Hamas will release some 50 Israeli hostages over the next four days and during that time, Israeli military will observe a pause in the fighting. Israeli will also release additional Palestinian prisoners.
The four day ceasefire, according to the Qatar-brokered agreement, could be extended for another one or two days in exchange of additional 12 hostages.
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