
Israel briefly delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners in protest over chaotic scenes during an earlier handover of hostages by Hamas, with the government saying it’s now satisfied future releases will be better managed.
The 110 detainees will be freed at 5pm Israeli time, roughly three hours later than planned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that following his demand, mediators delivered a commitment that a safe exit will be guaranteed for Israeli hostages in the next round of swaps.
“Israel insists that lessons be learned and that in the next rounds, there will be extra care in ensuring the safe return of our hostages,” the Israeli premier’s office said.
It’s unclear if the short suspension will have an impact on the six-week ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which paused the war in Gaza after 15 months of fighting that devastated the Palestinian territory. Yet given the issue was quickly resolved, the next hostage-prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as scheduled on Saturday.
The Palestinian prisoners were meant to be freed after the return of three Israeli and five Thai hostages from Gaza.
'Horrifying' scenes
Two Israeli hostages — Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses — and those from Thailand were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas in the Gazan town of Khan Younis. During the exchange, a crowd of people gathered around the hostages in a way Israel said was a threat to their safety.
The scenes were “horrifying,” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said.
Agam Berger, the other Israeli hostage, was released in Jebaliya in the north of Gaza without incident.
All eight hostages are now in Israel.
The first stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect almost two weeks ago and requires the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages — some of which are dead — in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
So far, 10 Israeli and five Thai hostages along with 400 Palestinian prisoners have been freed. Talks on a more complicated second stage are meant to commence next week, and will be the focus of Netanyahu’s scheduled meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
The next stage is meant to include agreements on a permanent end to the war and on the release of all remaining hostages — males under 50, including soldiers — in turn for more Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and many other countries.