UN chief urges Hamas to proceed with planned hostage releases
Members of
the Israeli military gather near a makeshift tunnel set up at the door of a
military helicopter transporting a newly-released Israeli hostage, after it
landed on the heliport of the Sheba hospital in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on
February 8, 2025. Hamas freed three Israeli hostages on February 8 in exchange
for 183 Palestinian prisoners, completing the fifth swap under a fragile Gaza
ceasefire while sparking accusations from both sides of mistreatment. Photo:
AFP
The
UN chief called on Hamas Tuesday to proceed with planned releases of Israeli
hostages, after the Palestinian fighters threatened to postpone further
hostage-prisoner exchanges agreed under a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
"We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would
lead to immense tragedy," Antonio Guterres said on X, appealing "to
Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages".
"Both
sides must fully abide by their commitments in the ceasefire agreement and
resume serious negotiations."
The ceasefire that went into effect on January 19 largely
halted more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip and saw five groups of
Israeli hostages freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli
custody.
But on Monday, Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said the
next hostage release due to take place on Saturday would be "postponed
until further notice".
It accused Israel of failing to meet its commitments
under the agreement, including on aid, and cited the deaths of three Gazans on
Sunday.
Hamas later said it announced the delay five days in
advance to give mediators time to push Israel to comply.
Following the statement, Israel said its military was readying for "any
possible scenario".
The pressure rose further after US President Donald Trump
said he would call for an end to the ceasefire if all Israeli hostages were not
freed by noon on Saturday.
He had already hiked tensions with a proposal to take
over Gaza and remove its more than two million inhabitants.
















