GAZA CITY, Feb 23: Hamas accused Israel on Sunday of jeopardising the Gaza truce after the government delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners due to be freed after militants released six hostages a day earlier.
Israel had been expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in exchange for the hostages freed from Gaza as part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire deal.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the prisoner release would be delayed until Hamas ends its "humiliating ceremonies" while freeing Israeli hostages.
"By postponing the release of our Palestinian prisoners according to the phase one ceasefire agreement, the enemy government is acting rampantly and exposing the entire agreement to grave danger," senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said in a statement.
He called on mediators, "especially the Americans... to pressure Netanyahu and his government to implement the agreement as it is and immediately release our prisoners."
The truce, which began on January 19, largely halted more than 15 months of devastating fighting in the Palestinian territory.
The first phase of the ceasefire ends early in March but negotiations for a planned subsequent phase have not yet taken place.
As part of the seventh scheduled hostage-prisoner swap on Saturday, militants released five Israeli captives in well-rehearsed ceremonies in Gaza, during which they were paraded on stage in front of a crowd before being handed over the Red Cross officials.
A sixth Israeli Bedouin hostage was handed over in private.
"In light of Hamas's repeated violations -- including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda -- it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday (Saturday) until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the humiliating ceremonies," Netanyahu's office said in a statement Sunday.
Hamas official Naim accused Netanyahu and his government of "dragging their feet and talking about flimsy excuses to sabotage the agreement".
"What is more dangerous is that, so far, they refuse to engage in the second phase negotiations, which were supposed to begin (at the start of February), which reflects their intentions to evade the agreement and threaten to return to war," he added.