Israel indefinitely delays Palestinian prisoner release as hostages freed [View all]

Source: BBC

Israel indefinitely delays Palestinian prisoner release as hostages freed

23 February 2025

Sebastian Usher
Middle East correspondent
Reporting fromJerusalem
Lucy Clarke-Billings
BBC News

Israel says it is indefinitely delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, in another potentially major setback in the ceasefire process.

It came after six Israeli hostages, including four kidnapped during the 7 October 2023 deadly Hamas attack on Israel, were released on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the release of the Palestinian prisoners was now going to be delayed until the next handover of hostages by Hamas was guaranteed - and without what he called the degrading ceremonies that Hamas has put on each week.

There's only one more handover of hostages due in the first phase of the ceasefire, involving four of the hostages who've died in captivity.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjry4nqw4z0o