Release of 602 Palestinian prisoners delayed until Israeli hostages released 'without humiliating ceremonies', Netanyahu says

By Josef Al Shemary

Netanyahu said Israel will delay the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners that was supposed to happen on Saturday "until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed”.

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It marks an indefinite postponement where the prisoners' release is concerned, which Hamas says is contravenes the ceasefire agreement.

In a brief statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office Israel accused Hamas of "repeated and ongoing violations," with Hamas levelling the same accusation against Israel on Saturday.

Netanyahu's statement said the decision was made “in light of the repeated violations by Hamas – including rituals that humiliate the dignity of our prisoners and the cynical political use of them for propaganda”.

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As part of the ceasefire agreement, 445 prisoners who were arrested in Gaza after 7 October were supposed to be released, in addition to 41 people from the Shalit deal.

The latest handover brought unprecedented scenes, as Omer Shem Tov, 22, was seen to kiss the head of two of his Hamas captors upon release, before he was taken away by the Red Cross.

Reacting to the news, Hamas said Netanyahu is 'playing dirty games' to sabotage the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

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“We believe that, again, these are dirty games from the right-wing government to sabotage and undermine the deal and to send a message of willingness to go back to war,” Basem Naim, a senior member of Hamas, told Al Jazeera.

It is unclear whether the already fragile ceasefire deal will hold, as this hostage exchange was supposed to be the final swap of phase one of the deal, with phase two planned to begin next week.

Earlier on Saturday, Hamas claimed the release of the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel is being delayed by 'assaults' to captives.

The group claimed on Saturday that Israel had "violated" the ceasefire agreement by "assaulting" prisoners, as well as by switching out prisoners names from the agreed list.

Israel denied this, and said the Red Cross were at the prisons carrying out checks.

It comes as six Israeli hostages - Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto - were released by Hamas on Saturday morning.

During the release of Israeli hostages, a media official for Hamas said that Israel is trying to make last-minute changes to the names of prisoners set to be released.

"The occupation is trying to manipulate some of the names and prisoners scheduled to be released," they said.

"We confirm our readiness to release all prisoners in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners."

It's reported that six prisoners set to be freed chose not to be released from jail in protest, insisting Palestinians should remain in Gaza and not face deportation from what they see as their land.

The Red Cross are said to have conducted pre-departure interviews with the detainees to check their medical condition.

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Prisoners are also thought to have been allowed to contact family members to confirm their release.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society, the office overseeing the imprisonment of Palestinians, has given a breakdown of those set to be release.

They include:

• 445 arrested in Gaza after 7 October
• 43 from the West Bank and Jerusalem
• 11 arrested in Gaza before 7 October
• 97 deportees
• 24 women and children from Gaza

It follows the release of Tal Shoham, 40, who was the first hostage to emerge from a vehicle in Rafah on Saturday.

Flanked by Hamas fighters, Avera Mengisto, 38, emerged from the vehicle moments after.

A second handover ceremony took place hours later in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where three more hostages - Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert - were released.

Hisham al Sayed, the only Arab-Israeli hostage, was released behind closed doors by Hamas later in the morning, with the group saying it was "out of respect for Palestinian citizens of Israel".