Hamas stresses commitment to ceasefire, calls negotiations as sole path to free captives

Hamas made the announcement on Thursday, as Israel began releasing 642 Palestinians after the resistance group handed over the bodies of four Israeli captives as part of the final prisoner swap in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

“We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement with all its details and provisions and our readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

It also noted that the only way to free the Israeli captives still held in Gaza is through “negotiation and commitment” to the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli authorities’ “failed" attempts to obstruct the prisoner exchange have left the regime with “no choice” but to begin talks for the second phase of the truce, it added.

The Palestinian abductees had been initially slated for release on Saturday in exchange for six living captives freed by Hamas.

However, Israel had delayed the process over alleged mistreatment of captives during their handover.

Hamas accused Israel of “sabotaging” the Gaza ceasefire by the delay.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Information Office said that the seventh and eighth batches of abductee releases were merged, bringing the total number to 642.

The Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing at least 48,348 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Israel accepted Hamas’ longstanding negotiation terms under the Gaza truce, which began on January 19.

The ceasefire consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. In phase one, a total of 33 Israeli captives, including eight bodies, were released in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian abductees held in the regime's jails.