GAZA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Sunday condemned Israel's decision to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners, calling it a deliberate attempt to evade its commitments under the agreed-upon deal.

In a press statement, al-Rishq dismissed Israel's claim that the handover ceremony of Israeli hostages was humiliating, describing it as "a false claim and a flimsy pretext aimed at shirking its obligations."

Al-Rishq further accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of intentionally disrupting the agreement, citing it as evidence of "Israel's lack of reliability in fulfilling its commitments."

He urged mediators and the international community to exert immediate pressure on Israel to ensure the agreement's implementation and the prompt release of prisoners.

The Israeli government had postponed the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners, originally scheduled for Saturday, following Hamas' release of six Israeli hostages as part of the seventh batch of the hostage-prisoner exchange under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. Enditem

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