After several hours of delay, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the agreed release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners would be delayed even further, accusing Hamas of staging “humiliating ceremonies” while freeing hostages under the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Since the January 19 ceasefire, Hamas has released 25 hostages, many of whom were taken on stage and shown to the crowd upon their release. Some waved back to the crowd, while one shocked onlookers by kissing a Hamas fighter on the head during his release in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
In the seventh scheduled prisoner-hostage swap, Hamas released six captives on Saturday, but Israel did not release Palestinian prisoners as planned. Hamas and many others have called this a blatant violation of the truce.
Israel Freezes Release of Detained Palestinians
“In light of Hamas’ repeated violations — including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda — it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday (Saturday) until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the humiliating ceremonies,” Netanyahu’s office said.
Meanwhile, in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian families waited in vain for their loved ones, standing for hours outside Israeli detention facilities.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said they expected the release of 620 detainees, mostly Gazans who have reportedly been forced out of their homes and wrongfully detained without trial since October 2023. Before Netanyahu’s decision, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou accused Israel of breaking the deal and urged mediators to pressure Tel Aviv into complying with the truce.
Humiliation of Palestinian Detainees
On February 15, Israel’s Prison Service confirmed the release of 369 prisoners from Ofer and Kziot prisons, having transferred them from multiple detention facilities across the country. Images showed the detainees wearing sweatshirts bearing the Israeli Prison Service logo, a Star of David, and the slogan, “We do not forget and we do not forgive.”
Hamas condemned the slogan as racist and a violation of humanitarian laws. Meanwhile, Israeli commentators criticised the move, with one calling it “idiotic” and comparing it to Hamas’s gestures during hostage releases.
According to the Guardian, the head of the Israeli prison service, Kobi Yakobi, had prepared sweatshirts for the Palestinians planned to be handed over on February 23rd. Inscriptions on the sweatshirt read, “I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I will not return until they are destroyed”, as well as bracelets inscribed: “The eternal people do not forget. I will pursue my enemies and overtake them.”
Hamas Frees Six More Captives
The six Israelis freed earlier on Saturday were the last living captives released in the truce’s first phase, which has so far secured 30 hostages and is set to expire in early March.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, three hostages—Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert—were shown on stage before being handed to the Red Cross. In Rafah, Hamas handed over Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu. A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, was transferred privately.
Of the 251 people taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 62 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military believes are dead.
The October attack resulted in 1,215 Israeli deaths, while Israel’s military bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 48,319 people in Gaza, mostly civilian women and children, according to figures from the Gaza health ministry, which the United Nations, alongside numerous other organisations, consider reliable.
With the truce’s first phase ending soon, negotiations for a permanent ceasefire remain uncertain, as tensions over prisoner releases deepen the divide between Israel and Hamas.
