FLASH
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After Hamas's surprise decision to delay the release of the hostages, Israel is warning to resume the ground operation in Gaza if they are not released by midnight.
As the Times of Israel reports, although there is no official confirmation, an Israeli official said that "if the next group of Israeli hostages is not released from Gaza by midnight, they will resume military operations."
The deal signed was for the release of at least 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners as part of a four-day ceasefire, while there would also be an increase in aid to Gaza.
Why did Hamas delay the second phase of hostage release?
Yesterday, Hamas released 24 hostages, of which 13 were Israelis. All of them were brought to Israel via Egypt after passing through the Rafah border crossing.
And today the second phase of the hostage release process was scheduled for 16:00 but there was a delay and it was moved to later. So shortly after 5:00 p.m., the Times of Israel reported that the process had begun, but they pulled it back citing "air defense activity and explosions over the southern Israeli city of Eilat."
A little later it became known that Hamas suddenly decided to delay the release after accusing Israel of violating the conditions, which Israel denies.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced it had decided to delay the second round of hostage releases until Israel pledged to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid into northern Gaza.
Earlier, a source close to Hamas told AFP that the Palestinian Islamist organization's armed wing "started handing over the second group" of hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the Brigades' official announcement did not confirm this statement. .
How many hostages and prisoners are expected to be released on the second day of the ceasefire
The second group, according to the AFP source, consists of 14 people, other sources speak of 13, and will be handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in the area of Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip.
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