Hamas announces delay in release of second batch of hostages; had said it was underway

Hamas’s military wing announces in a statement that it has decided to delay the release of the second batch of hostages, though a Hamas official shortly earlier told AFP that the release was already underway.

The military wing claims it is delaying the release “until the occupation adheres to the terms of the agreement related to the entry of aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip and due to failure to adhere to the agreed-upon standards for releasing prisoners.”

However, Israel has allowed 200 trucks into the Strip, as required by the deal, and Israel’s COGAT military liaison to the Palestinians announced earlier that 50 of those trucks reached northern Gaza.

Earlier today, senior Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Al Jazeera that Israel also didn’t adhere to terms regarding the release of the Palestinian prisoners, which Hamas had pushed to be freed in a different order than what Israel carried out.

A Hamas source had told AFP a few minutes ago that the handover of second batch of hostages to Red Cross had begun.

“The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades have begun handing the second group of Israeli prisoners over to the Red Cross in [the southern city of] Khan Yunis. There are 14 of them,” the source said.