The Gaza cease-fire deal hangs in the balance as Hamas begins releasing the names of hostages it will free after Israel continued military attacks Sunday morning, saying the militant group wasn’t meeting its obligations under the agreement.
The cease-fire was supposed to take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time Sunday, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would continue their attacks until Hamas gave the names of hostages it planned to release.
Hamas has now said the first three hostages it will release under the cease-fire agreement are Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher, the BBC reported. Hamas did not provide the names earlier due to “technical field reasons,” according to the report.
The Israeli government on its side has announced the names of 33 hostages it expects to be released under the deal in a post on X.
The Gaza civil defense agency, which is run by Hamas, said 10 people were killed by Israeli air strikes Sunday morning, with another 25 injured.
Implementation of the cease-fire agreement would pause the 15-month war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages into Gaza.
The post Gaza cease-fire off to shaky start as Hamas gives first hostage names appeared first on Politico.
