Second prisoner swap deal to be realized after problems
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Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says 39 Palestinian prisoners are to be liberated in exchange for 13 Israelis and 7 foreign nationals.
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Former Palestinian prisoners who were liberated from the Israeli occupation's prisons, fly Palestinian and Hamas flags while they are carried on the shoulders upon their arrival in Beituna, occupied Palestine, November 24, 2023 (AP)
After the delay in implementing the prisoner exchange deal between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Resistance, the obstacles were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian mediation, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said Saturday.
39 Palestinian prisoners will be liberated in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli captives in Gaza, with seven foreign nationals being released outside the framework of the agreement.
The Hamas Palestinian Resistance movement released a statement saying it responded to Qatari-Egyptian efforts to ensure that the humanitarian truce in Gaza is upheld.
"The Egyptian and Qatari parties conveyed that the occupation would commit to all the conditions stipulated in the ceasefire agreement," Hamas added.
US President Joe Biden called Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and requested assistance in resolving the deadlock related to the prisoner swap in Gaza, Axios reported, citing a US official.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Biden spoke directly with Qatar's Emir and its Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, on Saturday upon the announcement that the release of the captives had been delayed.
After the call, senior US officials contacted Israelis, Qataris, and Egyptians to overcome the obstacles that prevented progress regarding the prisoner exchange deal.
According to Watson, Qatar told the White House that the deal was back on track, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) taking off for the collection of the captives.
Another issue that was causing the disruption to the prisoner swap deal, aid deliveries to Gaza, was also reportedly going to be resolved, with the Wall Street Journal saying more aid would be delivered to the strip soon.
Hamas Politburo member Osama Hamdan told Al Mayadeen that there are multiple violations committed by the Israelis in implementing the terms of the truce, some of which occurred yesterday and were repeated today.
The violations, according to Hamdan, came in the form of the Israeli occupation going against stipulations regarding the truce, the prisoner swap, and the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Palestinian Resistance decided to suspend the release of the second batch of captives, and there are communications to address and end the Israeli violations, added the Politburo member.
"The number of aid trucks that have reached northern Gaza is less than half of what is agreed upon according to the ceasefire agreement," the Hamas official explained.
Israeli media outlets reported on Friday that the Israeli captives crossed the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, after being received earlier by the Red Crescent at the Khan Yunis Hospital in the Gaza Strip, which transferred them to the Palestinian-Egyptian borders.
According to news outlets, 24 captives were released, and "all of them are in relatively good condition."
Following over 6 weeks of the Israeli brutal war on Gaza, which was accompanied by a near-complete blockade, a full siege on the residents, and over 1,300 massacres during the short period, the Resistance was able to enforce its initial conditions of not releasing any Israeli captive unless through an indirect prisoner exchange.
Read more: Ansar Allah: IOF yielded to truce on the terms of the Resistance
The captive's release comes as part of the previously announced prisoner exchange agreement between the occupation entity and Resistance group Hamas, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, which saw the liberation of 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
