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Hamas said on Thursday that it was committed to a ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza and would continuing freeing Israeli hostages as set out in the agreement.
The announcement appeared to reverse a threat issued by the Palestinian militant group this week to suspend releases of hostages “until further notice”. In response, Israel threatened to resume the war if the next group of hostages were not freed as scheduled on Saturday.
Hamas justified the threatened suspension by accusing Israel of failing to stick to the ceasefire agreement, including by not allowing the agreed amounts of humanitarian aid — in particular tents — into Gaza.
But on Thursday, Hamas said that after talks with mediators it had received assurances that they would remove the “obstacles” to the deal.
“Accordingly, Hamas confirms its continued position to implement the agreement in accordance with what was signed, including the exchange of prisoners according to the specified timetable,” the group said.
Hamas is due to free three Israeli hostages in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
This is a developing story