Hamas official says differences over prisoners could torpedo deal

By Nurit Yohanan

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

9 October 2025, 2:11 pm 3 Edit

Nurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi writes on his X account that disagreements over what prisoners Israel will release as part of a deal to free hostages in Gaza are threatening to derail the deal.

“It seems Netanyahu is trying to sabotage the ceasefire agreement before its implementation, by reneging on prisoner release lists in an attempt to derail the understandings,” he writes.

Mardawi alleges that the lack of agreement on the prisoners exposes Israel’s unreliability regarding troop withdrawals, reconstruction and the reopening of crossings in and out of the Strip.