A spokesperson for Hamas says it will delay the next hostage release after accusing Israel of violating a ceasefire agreement.
Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas has committed to releasing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The next exchange, scheduled for Saturday, called for three more Israeli hostages to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, accused Israel of systematically violating the ceasefire agreement over the past three weeks. He cited “delays in allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, targeting them with airstrikes and gunfire across various areas of the Strip, and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed.”
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PA ends controversial payments to families of Palestinian prisoners
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ended a controversial system that paid stipends to the families of Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted in deadly attacks on Israel.
The step is aimed at improving relations with the new administration of President Donald Trump. The U.S., along with Israel, has said the so-called “martyrs fund” rewarded violence against Israel.
Under the new system, prisoners’ families will still be eligible for government assistance, but only depending on their financial needs. Previously, payments were determined based on the amount of time a prisoner had spent in prison.
There was no immediate reaction from the U.S. or Israel.
Israeli police raid Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem
Israeli police have raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict. The police said the books incited violence.
The Educational Bookshop, established over 40 years ago, is a hub of intellectual life in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed to its capital in a move not recognized internationally. Most of the city’s Palestinian population lives in east Jerusalem, and the Palestinians want it to be the capital of their future state.
The three-story bookstore that was raided on Sunday has a large selection of books, mainly in Arabic and English, about the conflict and the wider Middle East, including many by Israeli and Jewish authors. It hosts cultural events and is especially popular among researchers, journalists and foreign diplomats.
The bookstore’s owners, Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna, were detained.
Turkish president again rejects US proposal to relocate Palestinians
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again rejected a U.S. proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and said Israel should pay for the damage it caused there and for reconstruction to begin.
“We do not consider the proposal to exile the Palestinians from the lands they have lived in for thousands of years as something to be taken seriously,” Erdogan said during a visit to Malaysia on Monday.
“No one has the power to force the Palestinian people to experience a second Nakba,” he added, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Erdogan, who is on a four-day tour of Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, highlighted the severe destruction in Gaza.
