Israel orders military readiness as Hamas says to delay hostage release

JERUSALEM/GAZA - Israel has ordered the military to prepare for "any possible scenario in the Gaza Strip" after Hamas announced Monday that the handover of hostages scheduled for Saturday would be postponed until further notice.

In a statement issued by his office, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz denounced Hamas' announcement as "a complete violation of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal".

Katz said he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to "prepare at the highest level of readiness for any possible scenario in Gaza and to defend the communities near the enclave".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening a situation assessment meeting with ministers and security officials, Israel's Ynet news site reported, citing the Prime Minister's Office.

Earlier on Monday, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement that during the past three weeks, the resistance leadership has monitored Israel's failures to abide by the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

The failures included delaying the return of displaced people to northern Gaza and targeting them with shelling and gunfire, as well as not bringing in relief supplies in all their forms as agreed upon, the statement added, stressing the resistance has implemented all its obligations.

Accordingly, the handover of the hostages will be postponed until further notice and until Israel ensures adherence to the deal and compensates for the past weeks retroactively, it noted. "We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation commits to them," said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, Israel's Hostages, Missing Persons, and Returnees Directorate, a government body, said in a statement that Israel "insists on the full implementation of the agreement as written and views any violation with the utmost seriousness".

These developments came hours after an Israeli delegation returned from Qatar, where indirect talks were held regarding the next phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Under the current ceasefire, which took effect on Jan 19 after 15 months of war, 21 hostages -- 16 Israelis and five Thais -- were released from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees freed from Israeli jails. During the first phase of the agreement, which spans six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages and about 2,000 Palestinian detainees are expected to be released.