Hamas postpones release of Israeli hostages, alleging Israel has violated agreement

Hamas said Monday it will not release Israeli hostages this weekend because Israel has broken the sides's 42 day-long ceasefire agreement. 

Al-Qassam Brigades – the armed wing of Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip – said that the hostage release would be "postponed until further notice," according to CNN. 

“We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation commits to them," group spokesperson Abu Obeida said. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the postponement was a violation of the ceasefire agreement and that he's informed the country's defense forces to “prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza.”

Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire in the war that started Oct. 2023 and is supposed to last 42 days, according to the BBC.

The deal involves Hamas releasing 33 hostages during intervals and Israel has to release a total of 1,900 prisoners.

As of now, Hamas has released 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the deal and Israel has released 183 Palestinian prisoners, CNN reports.

While a total of 33 hostages were supposed to be released in the first phase by Hamas, the Israeli government confirmed that eight of the 33 were dead.