Hamas has said it remains committed to a ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza and will continue freeing Israeli hostages from the enclave as set out in the agreement.
The announcement appeared to reverse a threat by the Palestinian militant group this week to suspend releases of hostages “until further notice”. In response, Israel had threatened to resume the 16-month-old war if the next group of hostages were not freed as scheduled on Saturday.
Hamas justified the threatened suspension by accusing Israel of various breaches of the ceasefire agreement, including not allowing the agreed amounts of humanitarian aid — in particular tents and shelters — into Gaza, most of which has been reduced to ruins by Israel’s offensive.