Israel and Hamas have struggled to break the ceasefire agreement for the entire week after the Palestinian group decided on Monday to temporarily postpone the exchange of prisoners for which both sides were due. In the end, however, Hamas announced that it would continue to comply with the agreed measures and released three Israeli hostages over the weekend. Israel has released 369 Palestinian prisoners.

As in previous prisoner exchanges, the three prisoners have been taken up on a stage by members of Hamas in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and then transported by a Red Cross vehicle to the Israeli border.

High Voltage Week

The Palestinian organization accused Israel on Monday of not complying with the agreement reached at the Meni and announced that Saturday’s prisoner exchange could be suspended. In a context of full tension between Hamas and Israel, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that, unless Saturday’s prisoner exchange took place, they would resume war in Gaza and make it a “hell.” Netanyahu believes that these joint statements with the new White House tenant have conditioned the Palestinian group’s eventual compliance with the ceasefire measures. Hamas, however, acknowledges the work done by the mediators, citing Egypt and Qatar, and reports that the aid that needs to be introduced into Gaza will be improved.

In a statement released immediately after the prisoner exchange, Hamas says that the only way to release the prisoners from now on is for Israel to "respect the ceasefire."