Gaza terrorists aligned with Hamas outside of Rafah, Gaza, on September 20, 2023. (Shutterstock)
Hamas said that the next hostage release will take place on Saturday, January 25, as was originally scheduled.
By World Israel News Staff
Hamas has reversed a decision to change the dates for releasing hostages after American and Israeli commentators noted that the delay constitutes a violation of the newly implemented ceasefire with Israel.
The terror group said in a media statement on Monday evening that it would deviate from the agreed-upon terms in the truce, which require Hamas to provide Israel with the names of hostages to be released on Fridays and transfer the captives to the Red Cross on Saturdays.
For seemingly no other reason besides psychological warfare, Hamas announced that it would delay the process by 24 hours, giving Israel the names on Saturdays and releasing the kidnapped Israelis on Sundays, forcing the hostages to spend yet another day in captivity.
However, in a hastily-released statement published hours later on Monday night, Hamas clarified that it would indeed abide the original terms of the agreement.
Hamas said that the next hostage release will take place on Saturday, January 25, as was originally scheduled.
President Donald Trump has stressed that he expects both Hamas and Israel to respect the terms of the ceasefire, threatening serious consequences for violations of the truce.
The terror group may have backed down from its original plan to delay the release under pressure from the Trump administration.
According to Hebrew-language media reports, Israeli officials expect the release of one civilian and three female soldiers who were kidnapped from the Gaza-adjacent Nahal Oz base.
Over the next month, three hostages are expected to ve released each Saturday.
A final group of 14 hostages is expected to be released on the last day of the first phase of the ceasefire.
If the ceasefire holds and all 33 hostages are released in the initial stage, Israel and Hamas will continue negotiations for the second and third phases of the truce.
There are currently 94 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
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