Hamas: Israel ‘manipulating’ list of Palestinian abductees, evading ceasefire terms

A senior Hamas official says Israel is “manipulating” the list of Palestinian abductees slated for exchange under a recently agreed ceasefire and evading the implementation of the deal, despite pledging compliance to international mediators.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ghazi Hamad, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement, stated that the Israeli regime is trying to remove some names that should be released, which is a clear violation of the agreement.

“Israel is manipulating the list of prisoners and is trying to remove some names that should be released. This action is a clear violation of the agreement reached through international mediation,” he said.

Under a US-mediated ceasefire, Hamas is to hand over 20 living Israeli captives and the bodies of 28 others, while Israel will release around 2,000 Palestinian abductees, held illegally in Israeli jails.

Palestinian sources confirmed that exchange lists had been approved and that the first transfers would begin on Monday at 08:00 local time.

The exchange coincides with an upcoming meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, aimed at discussing the next steps in the ceasefire process.

“Hamas hopes that the upcoming meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh will ensure that the agreement is implemented exactly in accordance with its provisions,” he noted.

Hamad warned that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet continues to threaten to resume the war against Gaza, calling for international and Arab pressure to prevent Israel from re-aggressing Gaza and to force the regime to implement the agreement.

He underscored that credible international guarantees must be provided to fully establish a ceasefire and pave the way for ending the occupation and realizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

Regarding the process of implementing the agreement, he said that the main dispute at present concerns “Israel’s manipulation of the list of prisoners. This regime is not honest even in its dealings with mediators, including the Americans.”

Hamad noted that Hamas, in full coordination with Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross, is pursuing the precise implementation of the agreement, which includes the exchange of prisoners, the cessation of aggression, and the withdrawal of occupying forces from Gaza.

Gaza prepares for massive captive exchange in first phase of ceasefire

Palestinian sources confirmed that exchange lists had been approved and that the first transfers would begin at 08:00 local time.

On Thursday, Hamas announced reaching a deal during indirect negotiations with the Israeli regime, which is aimed at ending Tel Aviv’s two-year-plus United States-backed war of genocide on the Gaza Strip based on a proposal forwarded by US President Donald Trump.

The agreement, the group said, “stipulates ending the war on Gaza, the withdrawal of the occupation from it, and the entry of aid” as well as the exchange of the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza with Palestinian abductees.

Despite responding to the proposal, the group has sternly cautioned about the potential of the regime’s reneging on what has been agreed upon, citing Tel Aviv’s betrayal of similar arrangements in 2023 and January this year.

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