IDF Chief Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari announced at 8:30 a.m. local time on Sunday that the ceasefire that was meant to go into effect has been delayed as Hamas has failed to provide the names of the three hostages that are meant to be released on the same day.
The names of Israeli hostages in Gaza to be released on the first day of the planned ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will be delivered soon, a Hamas official told Reuters on Sunday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier that the ceasefire would not begin until Hamas provided the names.
This announcement came after a long night of security assessments following delays in the list. Hamas was meant to already provide the list of hostages 24 hours before their release. Three hostages are meant to be released on Sunday, but it is unclear who.
Shortly after Netanyahu’s announcement, the terrorist group released an official statement affirming its commitment to the ceasefire, stating that the delay in the names of the hostages to be released is due to technical issues.
Earlier reports said that Hamas would reportedly hand over the list on Saturday night.
Hamas sources told mediators that it would hand over the names of the hostages as soon as they had been transferred to a safe place. It is expected that three female soldiers will be released.
A Hamas source told Ynet that the group is delaying the release of the names because of technical reasons. He said that “communication between [Hamas] operatives is done physically by messengers, and it takes them time to agree on the names and location of the hostages while IDF jets are still overhead.”
He added, “The list will only be released after approval from Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar.”
In a statement on Saturday, Hamas revealed that it would publish lists of names the day before each exchange day.
An Israeli source told KAN that they knew “Hamas would be manipulative” in not providing who would be released on Sunday.
Schedule of releases
On the seventh day of the deal, four more hostages are expected to be released, and this procedure is expected to occur every week on Saturday for the next six weeks, leading up to the release of 33 more hostages.
A source familiar with the details of the negotiations said that the next 24 hours are critical for the beginning of the implementation of the deal and that Israel feared that Hamas would try to violate it. A spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that “there has been no violation of the agreement.”
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