Netanyahu’s office said the release will be in an indefinite hold until Hamas can guarantee that the next hostage release will be “without a humiliating ritual.”
Israel announced on Sunday that it would delay the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners scheduled for February 22, the same day Hamas released six more Israeli hostages under “humiliation” conditions.
The exchange was the last one with the Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu responded to the return of the wrong group in a video statement, resulting in promising consequences for the violation.
“We will act with determination to bring Siri home with all the hostages – we are dead when we are alive.
Related Stories
Vivas’ body was returned the following day on February 21st. It was announced on Saturday morning that after a positive identification, Vivas was also murdered in Gaza while being captured by two young sons.
The body of the son, which was returned and actively identified, revealed that the boys were killed with “naked hands” around November 2023, and that terrorists tried to obscure the evidence, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. IDF) said.
Hamas denied the murder charge, saying that Vivas and her sons were killed by Israeli airstrikes early in the war. The Israeli forensics chief said he could not find any evidence that Vivas had died in the explosion. Neither Israel nor Hamas’ claims have been independently verified.
Netanyahu’s office said in a local time statement on February 23 that the release of Palestinian prisoners will be held indefinitely until “the release of the next hostage is guaranteed and without humiliating rituals.” Ta.
Dozens of masked Hamas terrorists paraded hostages before shaking the crowds in Gaza on Saturday. Two hostages in one place, three in another. The sixth was released quietly later that day. All six were released to the Red Cross for a transfer to Israel.
The second group of three men wore military uniforms, but were not soldiers at the time of accusation. They were taken to Gaza from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023 in the Hamas terrorist attack.
The two hostages released on Saturday were held in Gaza for about a decade. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Avera Mengistu, 39, had a history of mental illness, according to family comments and a 2017 report from Human Rights Watch.
Born in Ethiopia and living in the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, Mengäthu crossed a barbed wire fence near the beach in Gaza in September 2014, but was an Israeli citizen Bedouin who lived in the Nege desert. Sayed walked to Gaza. East in April 2015.
Hamas once described them as soldiers, but Human Rights Watch said that while neither of them are associated with the Israeli government or the military, both men are used to walking long distances on foot . I don’t know why they went to Gaza.
According to Israeli media, of the 602 Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released in exchange for hostages, around 50 have been sentenced to life in prison for a fatal attack on Israelis.
Among them is Hamas leader Amar Zavan. He led the brigade of Al Aksa Martilz during the second Intifada. He was to serve 27 life conditions for his involvement in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 1997 suicide bombing at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, which killed 16 people.
Another 60 people have served a long sentence, with 47 being re-arrested following a 2011 exchange with prisoner IDF soldier Girad Sharit, and 445 prisoners being detained from Gaza, but October 7th He was not charged following the attack on the day.
Hamas is scheduled to release four more organizations this week, with the rest of the 33 hostages expected to be returned in Phase 1 of the contract if negotiations are made.
Reuters contributed to this report.
