Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked by more than fifty Israeli captives who had been liberated to ensure the release of those remaining detained in the Palestinian territory and to fully implement the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
“We who have experienced the inferno know that a return to war is life-threatening for those still left behind,” a group of 56 freed hostages said in a letter posted on the social media platform Instagram on Friday evening.
“Implement the agreement in full, in one single manoeuvre.”
Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two small sons perished while in captivity in Gaza, was one of the people who signed the letter.
The video, which showed Israeli hostage Matan Angrest alive, was provided by Hamas, and his relatives said it left them “shaken.”
Angrest, who turned 22 in November, also urges Israeli officials to carry out the second part of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza in the video.
After six weeks of relative calm, during which Israeli captives were exchanged for Palestinian inmates, the first phase of the truce in Gaza came to an end on March 1. However, hostilities have not yet restarted.
Hamas has demanded a move to the second phase, which should bring the war to a permanent stop, even though Israel has stated that it wants to prolong the first phase until mid-April.
There are still 58 captives in Gaza out of the 251 that Palestinian militants took during the 2023 attack on Israel, including 34 that the Israeli military claims are dead.
Two senior Hamas officials told AFP the day before that a high-level Hamas delegation is scheduled to meet with Egyptian officials on Saturday to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire.
“The delegation will meet with Egyptian officials on Saturday to discuss the latest developments, assess progress in implementing the ceasefire agreement and address matters related to launching the second phase of the deal,” one official told AFP.
During its talks with Egyptian mediators, the Hamas delegation will demand that Israel “implement the agreement, begin negotiations for the second phase and open the border crossings to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The Palestinian militant group wants a “comprehensive agreement that ensures a permanent and complete ceasefire,” the other official said.
He said Hamas’s demands for the second phase include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an end to the blockade, the reconstruction of the territory and financial support based on the decisions of this week’s Arab summit in Cairo.
He also said that Hamas was ready to “negotiate a prisoner exchange to release all Israeli prisoners including those with American citizenship”.
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