Hostage Release Set for Saturday, January 25, Despite Earlier Delay Claims by Hamas

Hamas has confirmed that the second release of hostages, initially expected on Sunday, January 26, will take place as scheduled on Saturday, January 25, 2025.

The announcement, made on Monday via its official Telegram channel, comes hours after Hamas had initially stated the release would be postponed due to what it described as technical delays.

A senior Israeli official emphasized that the agreement between the parties clearly stipulated that the release should occur on Saturday, a date that will be honored.

“The agreement said that the release needs to be on Saturday, and that’s the date that the release will happen,” the official told The Jerusalem Post.

Earlier on Monday, Hamas had claimed that Palestinian terrorists were officially released only at 1:00 a.m. on Monday, a delay it argued would push the hostage release to Sunday.

However, Israeli officials are pointing fingers at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the hold-up.

They assert that the prisoners were on the buses by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, but the Red Cross took additional time to review the list of prisoners and approve it with Hamas, resulting in the delay.

The hostage release is part of a larger deal between Hamas and Israel that aims to free over 90 hostages in the coming weeks, as part of an effort to bring an end to the 15-month-long war in Gaza.

The deal was struck earlier this month, and the hostages’ release is seen as a critical step in building momentum for a broader ceasefire agreement.

Hamas had previously indicated that the release would happen on Sunday, January 26, and Nahed Al-Fakhouri, the head of Hamas’s prisoners’ media office, had reinforced this by stating that the hostages would be freed on that day.

The hostages being released in this round are expected to include four Israeli nationals, marking seven days since the ceasefire took effect.

Despite Hamas’s earlier confusion regarding the exact timing, both Israeli and Hamas officials are now in agreement that the second round of releases will proceed on the originally planned date of Saturday.

The back-and-forth between the two sides underscores the complexities involved in the ongoing negotiations and the delicate nature of the ceasefire agreement.

The resolution of the hostage release timing is crucial for the continuation of the peace talks, as the release of the hostages is considered a significant concession by Hamas, aimed at building goodwill and fostering further negotiations.

The international community, including the Red Cross, continues to monitor the situation closely, hoping that the successful completion of these releases could pave the way for lasting peace between Israel and Gaza.