Hamas says it will release hostages as planned, recommitting to ceasefire with Israel
Hamas said Thursday it will release Israeli hostages on the previously agreed upon timeline as part of its fragile ceasefire with Israel.
Hamas said Thursday that it will release hostages in the previously agreed timeline as part of its fragile ceasefire with Israel, in a reversal of its previous warning that it would indefinitely postpone hostage-prisoner swaps.
The Palestinian militant organization, which made the threat after accusing Israel of violating the terms of their three-week-old ceasefire, said in an official statement released on its website that it will “continue its position of implementing the agreement according to what was signed, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified schedule.”
It added that it would continue to release Israeli hostages this week — it is scheduled to release three more captives Saturday — after a “positive spirit prevailed in the discussions” with mediator nations Qatar and Egypt about maintaining the truce with Israel that this week has been tested to its limit.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told NBC News early Thursday that there were “positive signs of an agreement” on maintaining the integrity of the ceasefire.
President Donald Trump and Jordanian King Abdullah II meet in the Oval Office on Tuesday.Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe Israeli government had not yet responded to Hamas' statement.
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