Israel-Hamas conflict: Hamas delays hostage release; Israeli military intelligence chief resigns

A four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has helped ease the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. (Source: Reuters)

On November 29, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mardawi said that the release of Hamas hostages was being delayed due to logistical problems. He also blamed Israel for the difficulties in extending the ceasefire negotiations.

Meanwhile, the leader of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said that efforts to extend the ceasefire were not yet ripe. According to this figure, Hamas set conditions for accepting the end of the war, lifting the blockade of the Gaza Strip and withdrawing all Israeli forces in exchange for the release of hostages. Hamas also announced that it was ready for all possibilities after the current ceasefire ends.

According to an Israeli security official involved in the talks in Qatar, if Hamas returns 10 more hostages, Tel Aviv could consider extending the ceasefire.

The official also stated that if Hamas does not hand over a list of hostages to be released, Tel Aviv will resume the attack on November 30. In addition, Israel only agreed to negotiate on additional hostages, including 25 women and children being held in the Gaza Strip.

In another development, on the same day, Director of the Israeli Military Intelligence Department Aharon Haliva announced his resignation after taking responsibility for the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7 that killed more than 1,200 people.

Although Israeli military intelligence had detected Hamas exercises near the border and predicted that the force could infiltrate the fence to launch a single attack on Israel, Tel Aviv considered the exercises to be routine, as in previous months. Intelligence officials were also said to have had no strategic warning of war, and did not foresee the possibility of a large-scale, multi-front attack.

Therefore, Major General Aharon Haliva is aware of his responsibility for the incident. Immediately after the attack on October 7, he expressed that his remaining in office is only a period of time for him to contribute to resolving the consequences of the attack, as well as to avoid causing disruption to the agency's work.