Hamas source says captive releases to proceed after group received guarantees of Israel’s ceasefire compliance

Mediators reached a resolution this week to tensions which posed a threat to the ongoing truce agreement between Hamas and Israel, a member of Hamas told Mada Masr on February 13, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

The resolution will see the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, agree to release prisoners in its custody on February 15 in exchange for Israel’s adherence to the truce terms, namely the humanitarian protocol, said the source. 

But Israel is still avoiding talks on the second phase of the deal, the source said, adding that the Israeli government has repeatedly deployed “excuses” to avoid the start of negotiations which were due to establish an agreement on mechanisms for governance in the Gaza Strip and support steps toward a permanent ceasefire.

Talks on phase two were supposed to start earlier this week, but the Israeli delegation that eventually arrived in Doha was not authorized to discuss the matter, according to the Israeli media.

In the meantime, officials in Israel have instead expressed their support for the plan being spearheaded by US President Donald Trump to forcibly displace Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip to create “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Friction emerged between Hamas and Israel earlier this week regarding the shaky truce which has brought a relative calm to the Gaza Strip after 15 months of Israeli bombing.

The Qassam Brigades announced on Monday that it would delay the release of Israeli captives it was due to handover at the weekend, citing Israel’s violations of the ceasefire terms.

These included opening fire at civilians in Gaza and blocking the delivery of sufficient quantities of aid, equipment and materials to provide temporary housing to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians.

During the first phase of the deal, Hamas had agreed to deliver 33 of the Israeli captives held in its custody since October 7 last year, while Israel is to release over 300 Palestinian captives from its jails.

Currently, 79 Israeli captives remain in custody in the strip, while nearly 10,000 Palestinians were recorded imprisoned in Israel in the middle of last year.

The first phase of the ceasefire was also intended to see the delivery of large quantities of aid into the enclave, including fuel, equipment needed to remove rubble as well as tents and caravans for Palestinians whose houses were destroyed by Israeli bombardment and demolitions.

Officials in the strip’s Government Media Office have said that insufficient quantities of aid and temporary housing have reached Gaza since the ceasefire began on January 19. 

In response to Hamas’ delay, leaders in both Israel and the US publicly insisted that Hamas proceed with the releases, with Trump threatening to let “hell break out” if Hamas did not release all the Israeli captives it still holds by Saturday.

Yet, the Hamas source told Mada Masr on Thursday that the group informed Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it was committed to releasing the second tranche of prisoners in the ongoing exchange deal as long as Israel adheres to its side of the deal — namely the humanitarian terms. 

During a Thursday meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Wednesday, Hamas requested truce mediators increase pressure on the Israeli government to urge it to adhere to the terms of the agreement, the source said.

As Hamas and Egyptian officials were in talks on Thursday, the state-adjacent Al-Qahera News channel cited Israeli Army Radio to report that an agreement was reached to allow the “immediate entry” of caravans and heavy engineering equipment into the Gaza strip, after which an anonymous Egyptian official told the channel that Egypt and Qatar had successfully overcome the obstacles hindering the ceasefire’s implementation.

From its side, Egypt pledged to exert additional efforts regarding Israel’s implementation of the agreement, the Hamas source said. 

They added that Egyptian officials referred to their efforts over the past few days in bridging differences and pushing Israel to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire agreement. 

No progress was made toward the second and third phases of the truce negotiations in Cairo, however, said the Hamas source.

A Senior Israeli security official made a similar statement to Israeli media, according to Al-Qahera News, stating that no negotiations were underway on the second phase of the deal. 

Phases two and three of the deal were intended to lead to a full ceasefire and determine outstanding issues, including the management of the Rafah border crossing and governance in Gaza going forward.

Since Trump announced his plans for Gaza, schemes for displacing Palestinians to Arab countries other than Egypt and Jordan have been echoed by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who suggested establishing a Palestinian homeland in Saudi territory. 

Meanwhile, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have released multiple public statements in which they categorically rejected any proposals for the forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands since Trump first floated the idea.