The Palestinian movement Hamas has delayed, for technical reasons, handing over to Israel the list of hostages who were to be released in the exchange on Sunday as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli news portal Ynet reported.
According to a Hamas spokesman, communication between the group's operational units is carried out "physically through couriers", which is leading to a delay in compiling a list of hostages, as Israeli airstrikes continue. The final list will require the approval of Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar before it can be handed over, the movement's spokesman added.
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country had not yet received from Hamas a list of the hostages it plans to release first, and warned that without it, the Gaza ceasefire agreement could not be implemented. According to Ynet, the list of the first three hostages to be released was to be transferred to Israel via Qatar by 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, but this has not yet happened.
For his part, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid bin Mohammed al-Ansari said on January 18 that mediators have not yet registered a single violation of the agreement between Hamas and Israel on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.