Israel has stated that the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be postponed until it receives guarantees that the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip will be safely released and that the handover process will not involve "undignified ceremonies." This announcement was made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office just after midnight local time on Sunday.
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02-23, 2025Previously, vehicles seemingly carrying prisoners departed from the open gates of Israel's Ofer military prison, only to turn around and return. The release of the 620 Palestinians, originally scheduled to take place immediately after the release of six Israeli hostages in Gaza on Saturday, has been delayed by several hours; these six hostages were the last surviving group slated for release in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The previous handover ceremonies were criticized by the UN and others as being overly cruel, as five of the hostages were escorted by masked militants in front of crowds. Prior to the Prime Minister's statement, Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement by delaying the release of prisoners. The prisoners to be released include 51 Palestinians serving life sentences for serious crimes, one of whom has been imprisoned for over 45 years.
In recent weeks, the release of Palestinian prisoners has sparked debate about the treatment of prisoners, with many released individuals claiming to have suffered severe abuse and neglect in prison. On Saturday afternoon, six surviving Israeli hostages returned home, reuniting with their long-separated family and friends who had been held by Hamas. These six hostages included Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert, who were released in Nuseirat, central Gaza, and had been abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Another hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, who had been held prior to the Gaza war, was released in Gaza City without any ceremony. His father told Israeli media that he was unable to communicate after his release and has suffered from mental health issues. Previously, Hamas claimed that the Bibas family of three had died in an Israeli airstrike, but Israeli forensic authorities rejected this claim, and the IDF further claimed that Ariel and Kfir were killed "at the hands" of Hamas. The IDF has not publicly provided evidence to support this assertion, but stated that it has provided the relevant information to its "global partners."
