Hamas delays hostage release, alleging Israel violated terms of cease-fire

Updated November 25, 2023 at 12:06 PM ET

TEL AVIV, Israel — Hamas on Saturday put on hold a second hostages-for-prisoners exchange, alleging that Israel violated the terms of a temporary cease-fire agreement.

"The release of the second round of hostages to be delayed until Israel commits to the terms of the agreement — allowing aid trucks into the north of Gaza," Hamas' military wing said in a statement on its television channel.

It was not immediately clear which specific delivery of aid the Hamas statement referred to. The Israeli Prime Minister's office declined immediate comment, but an Israeli official told NPR that "Israel did not violate the agreement."

The second batch of hostages were set to be released around 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), according to Israeli media. But about an hour and a half later, the announcement from Hamas came down.

The delay at least temporarily dashes the hopes of families of the captives and Palestinians waiting for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails.

The sudden reversal capped a day of anticipation after a successful swap on the first day of the cease-fire on Friday, when Hamas handed over two dozen hostages , including 13 Israelis who were seized as part its Oct. 7 assault on Israel that killed around 1,200 people, Israel says. In exchange, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the conflict and more than 30,000 wounded, according to the latest figures from Gaza's health ministry.

Among the Israelis who won freedom on Friday is Hanna Katzir, who the Palestinian Islamic Jihad — a militia group that also took part in last month's attack on Israel — had earlier said was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Other Israelis released are eight members of three separate families, including four young children. Five captives, including Katzir, are in their 70s and the oldest is 85.

Hospitals where the freed hostages were taken have reported that they are in generally good condition. Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev, the CEO of Schneider Children's Medical Center, said the four children, three mothers and a grandmother there "are in the best and most caring hands."

"Their physical condition is good and they are currently undergoing medical and emotional assessment by the medical and psychosocial teams at Schneider Children's in a specially designated and private area," Bron-Harlev said.

As Israeli hostages were being freed and reunited with their families on Friday, there were scenes of celebration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where the Palestinians prisoners were being handed over. An enormous crowd in the heart of Ramallah gathered, chanting pro-Hamas slogans and waved the militant group's green flag.

The temporary truce was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Under the terms of the deal, Israel and Hamas must halt combat operations while at least 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinian prisoners are exchanged in groups each day. Israel says it could extend the cease-fire up to 10 days if Hamas keeps releasing captives.

Egypt's state information service on Saturday said that Egyptian officials were working with parties involved in the negotiations "to extend the truce period between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, for a day or so."

Israel's military has vowed to resume fighting once the deal expires or breaks down. "At the end of the operational pause, we will return promptly to our operations and offensive in Gaza," military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Saturday.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the pause in fighting has opened the door for the besieged Hamas-controlled territory to receive badly needed food, fuel and other supplies after weeks of bombardment from Israeli warplanes and ground forces. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas. The fighting has displaced nearly half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people, according to UNRWA , the U.N. relief agency overseeing Palestinians.

With the temporary cease-fire, some Palestinians are feeling safe enough to visit relatives in central and southern Gaza for the first time since the fighting began. Fuel supplies are scarce so they are using cooking oil to power old cars.

However, last month Israel's military warned Gazans living in the northern half of the territory, which includes Gaza City's half-million people, to move to the south or risk being killed during Israeli operations.

Said Khatib / AFP via

AFP via

Men carry empty canisters to be filled with cooking gas from a tanker that entered the Palestinian enclave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said Saturday that 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza from Egypt. It said the trucks were carrying food, water, shelter equipment and medical supplies.

"The United Nations led the deployment of over 50 humanitarian aid trucks to both the northern Gaza Strip and shelters that have not yet been evacuated. This deployment is being carried out with Israeli approval through the evacuation corridor," COGAT said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says it was able to deliver humanitarian aid by convoy to Gaza City and the North Gaza Governorate. It said the aid delivery was considered the largest since the conflict began.

The same number of trucks were dispatched to Gaza on Friday, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

On his second visit to Gaza, UNRWA Commissioner-General General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency is ready to receive more than 150 trucks a day of aid.

"It is time to remove bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions on UNRWA so that we can expand and accelerate the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance to more than two million people," Lazzarini said.