Palestinian militant group Hamas announced on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement, APA reports citing Reuters.
In reply, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement with its announcement and that he had instructed the military to prepare at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and to defend Israeli communities.
Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, said that since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, Israel had delayed allowing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, targeted Gazans with military shelling and gunfire and had stopped relief materials entering the territory.
Ubaida said Hamas would not release any more hostages until Israel "complies and compensates for the past weeks".
Another exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners was scheduled to take place on Saturday.
