GAZA (Dispatches) – A Hamas leader has announced that his group will not engage in negotiations with the Zionist regime until the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Tel Aviv, Anadolu reports.
The occupying regime was scheduled to let go 620 prisoners on Saturday under the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in return for six captives freed by Hamas, but the Zionist regime delayed the releases citing what it called “humiliating hostage handovers.”
“There will be no talks with the (Israeli) enemy through mediators before the release of the prisoners agreed upon in swap for the six Israeli captives,” Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi said in a statement.
“The mediators must oblige the enemy to implement the agreement,” he added.
Early Sunday, Hamas condemned Israel’s delay in releasing the Palestinian prisoners as a “violation” of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement.
Another senior official of Hamas said the Palestinian resistance movement has issued a stern warning to the Zionist prime minister over postponing the Gaza prisoner exchange deal.
Abu Zuhri said that Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was tampering with the fate of Israeli captives.
Rejecting his false claim, the Hamas official said Israeli captives are treated with respect.
Abu Zuhri said an Israeli captive kissing the head of the resistance fighters was a practical response to Netanyahu’s lies.
He said what the resistance does when handing over the captives is by no means offensive or insulting.
The Hamas leader noted that the movement is not weak and has not been defeated.
He stressed that Israel cannot dictate its conditions on Hamas and by delaying the exchange.
The development comes as Israeli daily Haaretz claimed on Monday that Israel informed the U.S. that it is no longer committed to the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was formulated during the administration of former President Joe Biden.
The Zionist regime’s minister of strategic affairs Ron Dermer told U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff during their two meetings in Florida that “Israel is not committed to the three-stage plan of the Biden administration, even if it signed it.”
“Netanyahu’s plan, as Dermer presented it to Witkoff, is as follows: release all the remaining captives in one big, single stage. Hamas will receive prisoners in return,” Haaretz said.
According to the newspaper, if Netanyahu’s demand for releasing the captives is not met, he will resort to “Plan B.”
Israel “will return to intense warfare, establish areas of shelter for civilians, and will allow food to be distributed by international organizations in these areas alone,” it said of Netanyahu’s plan B.
“In fact, as far as Netanyahu is concerned, there is no second stage,” it added.