GAZA: Hamas said Saturday that it was delaying the release of a second group of Zionist captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners until the Zionist entity complies with a truce agreement. The Palestinian group’s armed wing said the issues of aid deliveries to the northern Gaza Strip and the selection criteria for prisoner releases were holding up the handover.

The unforeseen setback followed an initial exchange on Friday when Hamas released 13 Zionists, all of them women and children, hours after a four-day truce took effect in Gaza. Ten Thais and one Filipino were also unexpectedly freed. The Zionist entity in turn released 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons under an agreement that mandates exchanges at a ratio of three to one.

In the Zionist-occupied West Bank, fireworks exploded and crowds filled the streets. The freed prisoners waved Palestinian and Hamas flags. “I was just waiting for the day I would be released from prison so I could hug my mother like this,” said Rawan Abu Matar, who served eight years for attempting to stab a Zionist soldier.

“I am happy but my liberation came at the price of the blood of the martyrs,” said Marah Bakir, 24, referring to the nearly 15,000 deaths across the Gaza Strip. Hanan Al-Barghouti, 58, released after two months in Zionist custody, lauded the armed wing of Hamas, its leader, and the people of Gaza. “May God reward them well on our behalf,” she said. “If it were not for the people of Gaza, we would not have seen freedom.”

The Zionist entity on Saturday denied that it had violated the truce agreement and vowed to continue the war to eliminate Hamas when the pause in fighting ends. “We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza,” Zionist chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said. “We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them,” he added.

Hamas fighters took around 240 captives when they broke through Gaza’s militarized border with the Zionist entity on Oct 7. Following the deadliest attack in its history, the Zionist entity launched an air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people.

A video released by Hamas showed masked militants with rifles, wearing military fatigues and the green headband of the Islamist movement’s armed wing, handing captives over to the Red Cross on Friday. Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 captives during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Egypt said that it had received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more captives and prisoners. “It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well,” US President Joe Biden told reporters, adding “the chances are real” for extending the truce. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for “a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression.”

Roongarun Wichanguen, sister of 33-year-old Thai hostage Vetoon Phoome, expressed joy and disbelief that he is coming home. She thought he had been killed. On a video call, “his face was very happy, and he seemed okay,” she said, adding he told her he “was taken care of very well. It looks like he just stayed in a house, not the tunnel.”

The pause in fighting in Gaza opened the way for more aid to Gazans struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. The Zionist entity had placed Gaza under near-total siege. Trucks carrying supplies including fuel, food and medicines began moving into Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday, and more entered on Saturday.

In Rafah, many waited to fill gas canisters for cooking. “All the people are hoping and ready for it to make their lives easier,” said one resident, Ezzeddine Abu Omeira. The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting. Since the truce, thousands have been returning to what is left of their homes.

The Hamas-run health ministry said seven people were wounded on Saturday when Zionist soldiers opened fire to discourage people from making the journey. The Zionist army said early Saturday that it downed a surface-to-air missile launched from Lebanon towards a Zionist drone. In response, the army said Zionist warplanes also struck infrastructure of Hezbollah, the Lebanese group allied with Hamas, both of which are backed by Iran. But after weeks of intensifying cross-border fire, Hezbollah has not claimed any attacks on the Zionist entity since the truce came into effect. – AFP