Khaled Yousef and Betul Yilmaz
11 February 2025•Update: 11 February 2025
JERUSALEM, Palestine
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Tuesday held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for delaying the release of captives from the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said that it would delay the next hostage release in response to Israeli “violations” of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
“Hamas' position came in response to Netanyahu, who constantly says he does not want to move to the next phase of the agreement,” Lapid told local radio 103FM.
Negotiations for the second phase were scheduled to start last week, but Netanyahu refused to send his negotiators to Qatar until he met with US President Donald Trump.
According to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronot, Netanyahu and Trump agreed on the guidelines of the second phase of the Gaza deal, including the expulsion of Hamas leadership from Gaza, the dismantling of the group’s armed wing, and the release of all captives from Gaza.
Israel’s security cabinet is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss the fate of the Gaza ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Lapid called for “a single-stage prisoner swap” instead of “small doses,” warning that the current method "means killing the hostages."
“Netanyahu and his government are working to derail the agreement to save time,” the opposition leader said.
Israel estimates that 76 Israelis are still held in Gaza, but does not know how many of them are dead or alive. It, however, holds over 10,000 Palestinians in its jails amid reported torture, abuses and medical negligence
Further complicating the situation, Trump proposed the cancelation of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas if all the hostages in Gaza are not released by Saturday noon.
On Friday, Gaza’s government media office said that only 8,500 aid trucks had entered Gaza since Jan 19, far fewer than the 12,000 that were expected under the deal.
The three-phase ceasefire deal has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 48,000 people and left the enclave in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
