GAZA (Dispatches) – Hamas has said it reached a deal to end the Zionist regime’s delay in releasing 620 Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to be freed last week, after it upheld its side of the ceasefire deal by freeing six Israeli captives from Gaza.
Hamas confirmed Wednesday that the occupying regime will release more Palestinian women and children from its prisons on Thursday, while the group will simultaneously hand over the bodies of the four Israeli captives.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, said the exchange was expected to take place on Thursday, with Egypt overseeing the process to ensure that both sides fulfill their commitments.
Hamas accused the occupying regime of “sabotaging” the Gaza truce by delaying the release of the 620 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. Israel justified the delay by citing concerns over the large public gatherings during which the Israelis were freed, with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the process as “humiliating ceremonies”.
The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations under the first phase of the ceasefire, during which Hamas is returning 33 captives, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas also said that an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for the bodies of Israeli captives would take place through “a new mechanism” that guaranteed Israel’s compliance, Reuters has reported. The date for the exchange would be announced at the right time, it added.
The movement also said that it had not received a proposal about the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal despite its readiness to proceed with it to complete all of the proposed phases.
Abu Azzoum said there were growing indications that Israel was looking to obtain an extension of the first phase of the deal rather than engage in negotiations on the second phase.
“Next Saturday, Israel is supposed to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor as part of the first phase,” Al Jazeera’s correspondent said, adding this will be an occasion to put the strength of the deal to the test.
The Philadelphi Corridor, a 14km (8.7-mile) long strip of land that represents the entirety of the border area between Gaza and Egypt, has been a point of contention as Israel attempted to retain control of the area.