Tehran, IRNA – The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for intentionally stalling the implementation of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
In a statement issued late on Thursday, Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou said the movement is still awaiting Israel’s full implementation of the “humanitarian protocol” tied to the ceasefire.
He said Hamas was prepared to fully implement to the agreement across all its phases.
Al-Qanou also blamed Israel for obstructing the delivery of essential supplies, including temporary shelters like mobile homes and tents, as well as heavy machinery into Gaza, which are part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
In his remarks, the Hamas spokesperson further condemned Israel for “using internationally banned weapons against Palestinian civilians” and criticized the Israeli cabinet for “demanding the disarmament of the legitimate Palestinian resistance.”
The first phase of the ceasefire will officially end on March 1, and Israel has been delaying negotiations on the next stages, which were supposed to have begun 16 days after the agreement took effect on January 19.
The second phase of the ceasefire calls for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.
Tensions further escalated on Friday as Israel claimed that one of the four bodies of Israelis handed over in Gaza the day before was not that of female prisoner Shiri Bibas.
Earlier, the Israeli army confirmed the remains of two child prisoners were identified by forensic teams as belonging to the Bibas family, but said another body released by Hamas was not the boys’ mother.
Hamas has said the Bibas family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2023.
Netanyahu on Friday accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal and said the Palestinian group would pay “the full price” for it. Some extremist Israeli ministers also called for the resumption of the war.
On Thursday, Hamas handed over the bodies of four people who were taken prisoner during its October 7, 2023 operation, as part of the ceasefire agreement that has paused more than 15 months of genocidal war.
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