Israel has postponed the anticipated release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for Israeli hostages, the Palestinian Prisoners Society confirmed early Sunday.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office acknowledged the delay, stating that future hostage releases must occur without “humiliating ceremonies.”
This decision follows Hamas’ release of six Israeli hostages on Saturday, with three of them handed over in a public event, while the other three were transferred privately.
This marked the final return of living hostages under the initial phase of a ceasefire agreement established last month. The next scheduled release, expected on Thursday, involves the remains of four more hostages.
In return for Saturday’s hostage release, Israel had been set to free 620 Palestinian prisoners, including 23 children and one woman. However, Israeli authorities delayed this action, citing security considerations.
Hamas, in response, accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement with this delay, creating uncertainty over the fragile truce.
The Israeli government attributed the postponement to Hamas’ “repeated violations” of the agreement, particularly its use of hostages in staged videos that “demean their dignity.”
A recently released Hamas video featured two Israeli captives, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal, watching the hostage handover from inside a vehicle.
Identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, both men pleaded for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure their release.
The forum noted that the captives were likely speaking under duress, and their families permitted media outlets to share what they described as “the sickening Hamas video.”
Hamas and its allies continue to hold 63 Israeli hostages in Gaza, with Israeli officials estimating that at least 32 of them are deceased. Among those believed to have died is soldier Hadar Goldin, captured in 2014.
The first two hostages released on Saturday, 40-year-old Tal Shoham and 38-year-old Avera Mengistu, were handed over to Red Cross officials in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
Shoham was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, along with his wife, two children, and mother-in-law, all of whom were freed the following month. Mengistu, an Israeli citizen from Ashkelon, crossed into Gaza in 2014.
Later in the day, three more hostages; Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23, were released in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where a large crowd, including Hamas fighters, gathered to witness the event.
The men had been kidnapped at the Nova music festival near the Gaza border during the October 7 attack.
Appearing frail but in relatively stable condition compared to previous hostages, Shem Tov notably engaged with Hamas militants on stage and even blew a kiss toward the audience.
A sixth hostage, 37-year-old Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin-Israeli who entered Gaza in 2015, was also released in Gaza City. Both al-Sayed and Mengistu reportedly suffer from serious mental health conditions and had been held captive for nearly a decade.
Before their handover to the Red Cross in Rafah, Shoham and Mengistu were paraded on stage, flanked by armed Hamas militants and given documents.
Shoham was also compelled to address the assembled crowd. By contrast, al-Sayed’s release was more subdued.
A prominent Bedouin leader in Israel suggested that the quiet nature of his release reflected Hamas’ recognition of the “Palestinians in the occupied territories.”
Many Bedouins in Israel hold varied identities, with some identifying as Bedouin Israelis and others as Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians awaiting release gathered outside Gaza’s European Hospital in Khan Younis, braving heavy rain.
Families held vigil, some waiting in hospital corridors overnight in hopes of welcoming their loved ones upon release.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, 620 Palestinian detainees were scheduled for release, making this the largest prisoner exchange since the ceasefire began.
Nearly 500 of them were to be returned to Gaza, including 445 who had been detained without charge since the war’s onset in October 2023, along with 23 children and one woman.
Additionally, 151 prisoners serving life or long sentences were slated for release to the West Bank, Jerusalem, or exile.
Israeli prison authorities reportedly mandated that Palestinian prisoners wear clothing bearing the inscription, “I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them; neither did I turn back till they were consumed.”
Reflecting on the hostage release, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, described it as a “moving and joyful moment” but tempered his statement with sorrow over the fate of Shiri Bibas and her children.
Bibas and her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, had become symbols of the hostages’ plight in Gaza. Their remains were expected to be among those returned on Thursday, alongside another hostage, Oded Lifshitz.
However, forensic testing confirmed that only the remains of the two boys and Lifshitz had been returned, while the fourth body did not match that of Shiri Bibas or any other Israeli hostage, prompting demands for the correct remains.
Following international condemnation, Bibas’ remains arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday evening. Her family, through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, issued a statement on Saturday, “Last night, our Shiri was brought home. After the identification process at the Institute for Forensic Medicine, we received the news this morning that we had feared: our Shiri was murdered in captivity.”
Hamas had previously claimed that Bibas and her two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. The group suggested that her remains may have been mistakenly exchanged with another person killed in the same attack and vowed to investigate.
As both sides continue indirect negotiations to extend the ceasefire, talks remain precarious, having already been delayed by more than two weeks.
