The Albany Gazette - Israel delays Palestinians' release after six Gaza hostages freed

Since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 Israeli hostages in well-rehearsed handovers, with masked militants parading the captives on stage and forcing them to wave at Gazans gathered to watch.

In their seventh scheduled prisoner-hostage swap, Hamas released six Israeli captives on Saturday while Israel delayed releasing Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinian militant group called the move a "blatant violation" of the truce deal.

Israel was expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.

"In light of Hamas' repeated violations -- including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda -- it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday (Saturday) until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the humiliating ceremonies", Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Sunday.

From Washington, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Hamas would be "destroyed" if it did not release all the remaining hostages.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, families had waited for hours on Saturday for their loved ones to be released from Israeli custody in exchange for the six Israelis returned home.

"Waiting is very difficult," said Shireen al-Hamamreh, whose brother was due for release.

"We are patient and we will remain stronger than the occupier, God willing," she told AFP in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

- A 'blatant violation' -

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group had said Israel would free 620 inmates on Saturday, most of them Gazans taken into custody during the war.

Before Netanyahu's announcement, Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou said Israel's "failure to comply with the release... at the agreed-upon time constitutes a blatant violation of the agreement".

Qanou called on the truce mediators to pressure Israel to "implement its provisions without delay or obstruction".

The delayed release comes after an emotional few days in Israel, where the remains of hostage Shiri Bibas were identified after the initial handover of a different body.

Netanyahu has said Hamas will pay "the full price" for what he termed a violation of the truce deal over Bibas's return.

Bibas and her two young sons, among dozens taken captive during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, had become symbols of the ordeal suffered by the Israeli hostages.

Forensics expert Chen Kugel said an autopsy conducted on their remains found "no evidence of injuries caused by a bombing".

Hamas militants had claimed that all three were killed in an Israeli air strike.

- 'Coming back home' -

The deal, which has so far enabled the release of 30 captives, is due to expire in early March.

Negotiations for a second phase, which is meant to lead to a permanent end to the war, have yet to begin.

At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23, waved from a stage, flanked by masked Hamas militants, before their handover to the Red Cross.

"I saw the look on his face, he's calm, he knows he's coming back home... He's a real hero," said Wenkert's friend Rory Grosz.

Under the cold winter rain in Rafah, southern Gaza, militants handed over Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, who both appeared dazed.

A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, was later released in private and taken back to Israeli territory, the military said.

Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim, and Mengistu, an Ethiopian Jew, had been held in Gaza for about a decade after they entered the territory individually.

Sayed's family called it "a long-awaited moment".

- 'Mix-up' -

On Thursday, the first transfer of dead hostages under the truce sparked anger in Israel after analysis concluded that Shiri Bibas's remains were not among the four bodies returned.

The family said in a statement she "was murdered in captivity and has now returned home... to rest."

Israel's military said that, after an analysis of the remains, Palestinian militants had killed the Bibas boys, Ariel and Kfir, "with their bare hands" in November 2023.

Hamas dismissed this account as "baseless lies".

Out of 251 people taken hostage during the October 2023 attack, 62 are still in Gaza including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,215 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,319 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

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(L.Thomas--TAG)