The spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, commented this evening (Monday) on the collapse of the ceasefire and Hamas's refusal to release the women who remained captive in the Gaza Strip. According to him, the terrorist organization is afraid that the women will tell about what they went through in captivity after their release - and as a result chose to violate the agreement and lead to the renewal of fighting.
"Apparently, one of the reasons Hamas doesn't want to release some of the women it holds hostage is that they don't want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them while they were in captivity," he said. "As a result, they preferred to bring about the collapse of the ceasefire."
According to him, "The truce that led to the release of the abductees came after negotiations and an agreement that set very clear conditions - including that women and children would be the first to be released. Towards the end of the truce, Hamas still held the women who were supposed to be the next to be released - and refused to do so. They made many excuses, but we did not think they are legitimate or reliable. But we estimate that one of the reasons is that they did not want the public to hear what happened to them."