Israel delays Palestinian prisoner release as deadline looms

Alisa Odenheimer, Bloomberg News on Feb 23, 2025

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Israel delayed the planned release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, citing what it called multiple violations by Hamas of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement — a development which calls into question whether the truce will hold.

“In light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said early Sunday.

Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said the Israeli leader’s actions put the entire ceasefire agreement in “grave danger.”

“The mediators who guaranteed the agreement, especially the Americans,” must pressure Israel to implement the agreement as written and immediately release the Palestinian prisoners, he said.

Hamas has staged elaborate ceremonies around most of the hostage releases in Gaza, with formations of uniformed, masked gunmen arrayed before festive throngs of civilians, some accompanied by their children.

The hostages have been paraded on stage and some have been made to give speeches thanking their captors. One hostage on Saturday was instructed to kiss the gunman standing next to him on his head, and did so. At times, banners mocking Netanyahu have been on display.

Hamas also released a video of two hostages, who were not slated for release in the current phase, brought to watch Saturday’s ceremony. They were filmed begging Netanyahu to continue negotiations and release them.

Izzat Al Reshq, another member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said the ceremonies “reflect humane and honorable treatment” of the hostages.

Netanyahu’s move to delay the prisoner release comes at a critical juncture, with the first phase of the Qatari- and Egyptian-brokered truce scheduled to end March 2. Whether it can be parlayed into an end to 16 months of fighting is an open question, with Hamas rejecting Israeli demands — backed by the U.S. — that it be stripped of political power and arms.

During Saturday’s exchange, the Iranian-backed group freed six Israeli men, including two who’d been held for a decade, in the final trade of live hostages scheduled under a ceasefire deal that mediators are trying to extend. In return, Israel had been expected to release from prison about 600 Palestinians, Hamas said.

Among those prisoners are 50 serving life sentences for orchestrating suicide bombings and other attacks, and 47 freed in a 2011 hostage exchange deal and rearrested after violating the terms of their release, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. One, for example, is responsible for the murder of 27 Israelis — and is serving 27 life sentences — and another is deemed responsible for attacks that killed 16 Israelis, the report said. High-ranking Hamas members are believed to be among the prisoners, Channel 12 said.

The deal was shaken earlier after Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist group in much of the West, delivered a body to Israel which proved to be not that of Shiri Bibas, the hostage it was expecting. Two other tiny bodies received were determined to be those of her young sons, Kfir and Ariel, who were kidnapped along with her and, according to Israeli medical examiners, murdered by their captors.

Hamas, which has said the Bibas deaths were the result of Israeli shelling, subsequently transferred another body to Israel. Those remains were found on Saturday to have been Shiri’s, her family said. Israeli forensic experts said they found no evidence that her death was the result of an airstrike.

Sixty-three hostages from the 2023 attack remain in Gaza — among them, 36 who’ve been declared dead in absentia by Israel based on intelligence and forensic findings.

U.S. President Donald Trump has taken credit for getting the ceasefire implemented, and said he would support a resumption of Israel’s offensive against Hamas should the deal break down.

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(With assistance from Fadwa Hodali.)

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