Hamas said Thursday that he would release three more Israeli hostages as planned, raiding the way to solve a great dispute over the high fire in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas had threatened to delay the next release of captives, accusing Israel of not fulfilling their obligations to allow tents and shelters, among other alleged rapes of the truce. Israel, with the support of US President Donald Trump, had threatened to renew his offensive if the hostages were not released.
There were no immediate comments from Israel about Hamas' announcement, but it should allow the high fire to continue for now, although the future of the truce remains in doubt.
Hamas said his delegation had conversations in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar's prime minister about bringing more shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment to clean the debris, his key demand in recent days. He said in a statement that the mediators had promised to “eliminate all obstacles.”
Shortly after the announcement, Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou, confirmed to The Associated Press on the phone that three hostages will be released on Saturday.
The state Qahera TV of Egypt, which is close to the country's security services, reported that Egypt and Qatar had managed to solve the dispute. The two Arab countries have served as key mediators with Hamas and helped negotiate the high fire, which entered into force in January, more than 15 months after the war.
The Egyptian media also transmitted images that show trucks that transport temporary and excavator housing on the Egyptian side of Rafah's crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing Gaza.
Trump has introduced more uncertainty
The truce faces a much greater challenge in the coming weeks. The first phase will conclude in early March, and there have not been substantive negotiations about the second phase, in which Hamas would free dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for an end of the war.
Trump's proposal to eliminate about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza and establish them in other countries has taken the future of the truce to doubt. The plan has been well received by Israel but vehemently rejected by the Palestinians and the Arab countries, who have refused to accept any influx of refugees. Human rights groups say that it could be equivalent to a war crime according to international law.
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The allies of the extreme right of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are already asking for a resumption of the war after the first phase with the aim of implementing the Trump plan and annihilating Hamas, which remains in control of the territory after surviving One of the most mortal and destructive military. Campaigns in recent history.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when the militants led by Hamas broke into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians and kidnapped about 250 people. More than half have been published in agreements with Hamas or other agreements, eight have been rescued and dozens of bodies have been recovered.
The captives are among the only negotiation chips that Hamas has left, and it may be difficult to get the group to commit to additional versions if it believes that the war will resume.
Trump has given mixed signs about what he wants to see in Gaza.
The credit was attributed to negotiate the high fire, which was reached days before assuming the position after more than a year of negotiations under the Biden administration. But he has also expressed doubts about how the agreement is developing and says that it depends on Israel if to resume war or not, while promising continued US military support.
Seventy -three hostages have not yet been released, about half of which are believed to be dead. Almost all the remaining hostages are men, including Israeli soldiers.
The war has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many were combatants. Israel says he has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel's offensive has erased large parts of Gaza. At its peak, the fight had displaced 90% of the population of the territory of 2.3 million. Hundreds of thousands have returned to their homes since the Alto El Fuego seized, although many have only found mounds of buried human and non -exploited human and ammunition.
A 'new war' would probably be much worse
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, echoing Trump, said Wednesday that “all hell will unleash” if Hamas stops freeing hostages. He said that a “new Gaza War” would not end until Hamas was defeated, which would allow Trump for Trump for mass displacement.
With much less hostages in Gaza, Israel's army would have more freedom to act.
It would also face much less limitations from the United States, its main military pattern. The Biden administration, although it provided crucial military and diplomatic support, had occasionally pressed to Israel to allow more help and at one time suspended some arms shipments. He had also said that there should not be a permanent displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza.
Trump has raised the restrictions on arms transfers, and his administration is pressing with the sale of weapons of $ 7 billion approved by President Joe Biden.
Trump has said that the population of Gaza should be resettle in another part of the region, with rich Arab countries that pay it. He has suggested that once the fight ends, Israel would transfer the control of Gaza to the United States, which would rebuild it as the “Riviera del Medio Oriente”.
Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a key partner in the fragile coalition of Netanyahu, has requested a resumption of war, the “voluntary migration” of a large number of Palestinians from Gaza and the restoration of the Jewish settlements there .
Lidman reported from Jerusalem.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press