So far, 13 Israeli hostages of the 33 children, women and older men set to be released in the first, 42-day phase of the agreement have come home and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released in exchange. Five Thai hostages have also been returned.
Work on the second stage of the multi-phase agreement, aimed at securing the release of around 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, has begun and an Israeli negotiating team was expected to fly on Saturday to Doha, Israeli media reported on Friday.
However the accusations levelled by Hamas against Israel showed how little trust there was between the two sides following more than 15 months of the bloodiest episode in the decades-long conflict.
The Israeli military said on Friday that commanders were conducting situational assessments ahead of the next phase of the agreement currently being discussed, with troops deployed at various points around the Gaza Strip.
“CLEAR MANIPULATION”
Hamas said only 8,500 trucks out of the 12,000 that should have arrived so far had entered the Gaza Strip, most containing food and secondary goods including chips and chocolate instead of other urgent needs.
“This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities,” it said.
In addition, only 10 per cent of the 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans needed to provide shelter had arrived, it said, leaving hundreds of thousands in harsh winter weather.
Finally, heavy machinery needed to clear millions of tonnes of rubble and recover the thousands of bodies thought to be buried had not arrived.
