Vehicles apparently carrying hundreds of Palestinian prisoners left the jail gates early on Sunday, only to turn around and go back in.
Vehicles apparently carrying hundreds of Palestinian prisoners left the jail gates early on Sunday, only to turn around and go back in.
By Wafaa Shurafa, Mohammed Jahjouh and Melanie Lidman
February 23, 2025 — 11.12am
Tel Aviv: Israel has delayed the expected release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, saying it will not free them until the next handover of Israeli hostages in Gaza is assured, and “without the humiliating ceremonies”.
In a development that has put the future of the Gaza ceasefire deal into further doubt, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on Sunday saying the release of 620 prisoners would be delayed – as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left Ofer prison in the West Bank, only to turn around and go back in.
The release of the prisoners was meant to have occurred just after Hamas released six Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Saturday, five of them during a staged display involving armed militants, and would have been the largest one-day prisoner release in the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase.
Since reaching the ceasefire agreement, Hamas has released Israeli hostages at large public displays in Gaza that the United Nations and others have criticised as cruel.
Israel said the ceremonies “demean the dignity of our hostages” and criticised the “cynical use of the hostages for propaganda purposes” – likely a reference to a Hamas video showing two hostages who have yet to be released watching a handover in Gaza on Saturday and speaking under duress.
Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal by delaying the prisoner release, with spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanou accusing Netanyahu of “deliberately stalling.”
The hostage handover followed a heartrending dispute earlier this week, when Hamas handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother abducted with her two young sons on October 7, 2023. Israel then determined the remains did not belong to Bibas, but were those of a Palestinian woman. Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation.”
Hamas suggested it was a mistake and Israeli forensic authorities confirmed a body handed over the next day belonged to Bibas.
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Head of the Israeli National Institute of Forensic Medicine Dr Chen Kugel said examiners had found no evidence Bibas and her children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Hamas has claimed. Kugel did not give a cause of death.
Hamas has denied the Israeli military claim, based on forensic evidence and unspecified “intelligence”, that its militants killed the children “with their bare hands”, calling it a lie aimed at justifying Israeli military actions against civilians in Gaza.
Israel’s government didn’t respond to questions about the delay in releasing prisoners. Those meant to be freed included 151 serving life or other sentences for attacks against Israelis, as well as 445 men, 23 children aged 15 to 19, and a woman, all seized by Israeli troops in Gaza without charge during the war.
Hamas released the last six living hostages expected under the ceasefire’s first phase on Saturday – three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival and another taken while visiting southern Israel during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that triggered the 16-month war in Gaza. The two other hostages had been held for a decade after entering Gaza on their own.
Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters. A beaming Shem Tov, acting under duress, kissed two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd. They wore fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when abducted.
The ceasefire deal has paused the deadliest and most devastating fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, but there are fears the war will resume.
Hamas has said it will release four bodies next week, completing the truce’s first phase. After that, Hamas will hold over 60 hostages — about half believed to be alive.
Talks on the ceasefire’s second phase are yet to start, but negotiations are likely to be more difficult.
Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Netanyahu, with the backing of US President Donald Trump, says he is committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all hostages.
Families and supporters of the Israeli hostages rallied on Saturday night in Tel Aviv to pressure Netanyahu’s government for a deal.
“How is it possible that President Trump and special envoy [Steven] Witkoff are more committed to the return of Israeli hostages than you are?” Naama Weinberg, a cousin of deceased hostage Itay Svirsky, said. “Netanyahu, these are your citizens who were abandoned on your watch!”
Hamas later released a video showing two hostages still held, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dallal, as they spoke under duress at the hostage handover on Saturday. A group representing hostage families called the video “sickening.”
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
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The October 7 attack killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have died in the war.
AP
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