Israel has put on hold the planned release of Palestinian prisoners, scheduled for Saturday, February 22, as part of the ceasefire agreement with the Hamas. This was announced by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as reported by the Times of Israel. The decision was explained in a statement, which read: “Due to repeated violations by Hamas, including ceremonies of humiliation of our hostages and the cynical use of our hostages for propaganda purposes.”
The return of the Palestinians will only be resumed if the next hostages released by Hamas return without “humiliating ceremonies” the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded. The statement from Netanyahu’s office came after reports that over 600 prisoners had already boarded buses to leave the prison, which would have been the largest release in a single day as part of the current ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The release has now been postponed indefinitely.
The Hamas condemned the decision and stated that the claim that the handover ceremonies for the hostages were “humiliating” was false and a pretext for Israel to renege on its commitments.
On February 22, the Islamist group Hamas had brought six Israeli hostages onto a stage in the Gaza Strip before handing them over to the Red Cross. The hostages took up a row, holding the “certificates of release” handed to them. Omer Shem Tov, who is now free, kissed two Hamas members on the forehead during the handover ceremony.
Additionally, coffins with the remains of hostages were carried through the crowd. Hamas fighters also brought two men, who were not scheduled to return as part of the first phase of the agreement, to the hostages who were to be released. The men expressed their outrage that they were still being held in the Gaza Strip. The father of one of the prisoners condemned the event: “They forced them to watch their friends being freed and then brought them back to the tunnels. There is no greater cruelty.”
In total, 25 hostages and four more corpses of hostages were returned to Israel as part of the agreement. According to the Times of Israel, there are still 63 hostages in the Gaza Strip, of whom at least 20 are alive. A planned handover of four corpses in exchange for more prisoners is scheduled for Thursday, February 27, which will be the last planned exchange as part of the first phase of the agreement.