The Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Club issued a brief statement early Sunday morning, confirming that the release of Palestinian prisoners had been delayed by the Israeli occupation authorities until further notice.
In a statement released early Sunday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that it had decided to “suspend the release of Palestinian prisoners until the next group of captives is freed without provocative ceremonies.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, condemned the delay, stating that the Israeli failure to release the seventh batch of prisoners on the agreed date constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said in a press release that “the occupation’s failure to release the prisoners of the seventh exchange batch on the agreed day represents a blatant violation of the agreement.”
“While Hamas has responded to the efforts of mediators to facilitate the exchange, the war criminal (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu continues his tactics of procrastination and delay, holding back the release of the (Palestinian) prisoners,” he added.
Al-Qanou called on mediators — Egypt, Qatar, and the guarantors of the agreement — to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire terms and implement the exchange without further delays.
Israeli occupation authorities were set to release 620 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday as part of the seventh batch of the first phase of the deal.
