BBC – Israel says it is indefinitely delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, in another potentially major setback in the ceasefire process.
Benjamin Netanyahu said the release was now going to be delayed until the next handover of hostages by Hamas was guaranteed – and without what the Israeli prime minister called the degrading ceremonies Hamas has put on each week.
Only one more handover – of the bodies of four hostages who died in captivity – is due to take place in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is due to end on 1 March.
No arrangements for the release of other living hostages, due to take place in the second phase, have yet been made.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas were due to negotiate the exact terms of the second phase while the first was ongoing – but have yet to meet.
Mediators will be working overtime to get the deal back on track and avert a possible collapse, after both Israel and Hamas accused one another of breaking the terms of the agreement.
Netanyahu accused Hamas of “repeated violations”, including the “cynical use of the hostages for propaganda purposes”.
In response, Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq strongly condemned the decision to postpone the release of the prisoners in a statement on Sunday morning.
He said that Israel’s claim that the handover ceremonies were humiliating was a “false claim and a flimsy argument” aimed at evading its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu’s statement came after four hostages taken captive on 7 October – Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert – were released on Saturday.
The two other released hostages, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, were held in Gaza for years – Mr Mengistu since 2014 and Mr al-Sayed since 2015.
In exchange, Israel was supposed to release 602 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement by delaying the release.
The six Israeli hostages are the final living hostages to be returned as part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, outside the Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, family and friends waited for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
