Netanyahu: Israel delays prisoners’ release until Hamas agrees to free more hostages - Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

"It has been decided to delay the release of the terrorists planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages is ensured," the PMO announced.

 

Vehicles move outside the Israeli military Ofer Prison on the day Israel is expected to release Palestinian prisoners as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, February 22, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

Israel will postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners until additional Israeli hostage releases are secured, the Prime Minister’s Office said late Saturday.

The PMO cited Hamas’s repeated violations of the ceasefire-hostage deal as the reason for the postponement.

Hamas on Sunday condemned Israel’s decision, saying its claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was false and a pretext to evade Israel’s obligations under the agreement.

The release of prisoners is expected to take place when the next round of hostages are released.

The PMO announcement came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting in Jerusalem with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Shas chair Arye Deri, and senior Defense Ministry officials.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 16, 2025. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Decision comes due to Hamas's 'repeated violations'

“Due to Hamas’s repeated violations – including ceremonies that disgrace our hostages’ dignity and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes – it has been decided to delay the release of the terrorists planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the degrading ceremonies,” the PMO said.

Israel wants Hamas to release the bodies of the next four hostages earlier than Thursday, when they are set to be released, and the extension of the first phase of the hostage deal to include further releases of hostages.

Israel says that since Hamas violated the agreement when it didn’t return Shiri Bibas’s body, the four bodies of slain hostages should have been returned earlier.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-843283

Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter