Netanyahu suspends release of 600+ Palestinian prisoners over ‘degrading’ handover ceremony

Israel announced that it would suspend the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners who were scheduled to be released yesterday as part of the seventh exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel.

On Saturday, Hamas released six Israeli captives and the bodies of four Israelis who were killed in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Israeli prison service transferred dozens of Palestinian prisoners to the Ofer Detention Center west of Ramallah in order to release them into the West Bank. Palestinian families had traveled from across the West Bank to Ramallah to receive their loved ones, some arriving in the early hours of the morning to avoid being delayed by Israeli checkpoints. In Gaza, families gathered in Khan Younis to receive some 300 Palestinian prisoners who were scheduled to be released into Gaza.

Following the release of the Israeli captives on Saturday morning, and after the Israeli army announced having received them from the International Red Cross, the Israeli Prison Service said that it had not received instructions from the Israeli government to release the Palestinian prisoners. In the late afternoon, Israeli media outlets reported that the release of Palestinian prisoners had been suspended until after Israel’s cabinet met, prolonging the wait of Palestinian families late into the night. 

After midnight, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would suspend the release of Palestinians until it received guarantees that the remaining Israeli captives would be released “without degrading rituals” — in reference to the handover ceremonies organized by Hamas throughout the first phase of the ceasefire that often included having the Israeli captives taking photos in front of a podium and receiving plaques and mementos from the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Hamas said in a statement that Netanyahu’s decision to suspend the release of Palestinian prisoners was based on “lousy pretexts,” insisting that the ceremonies did not degrade or insult the Israeli captives, but rather reflected their “humane treatment.” Hamas added that “the real degradation is the humiliation and mistreatment to which Palestinian prisoners have been subjected.”

Thin pretexts and double standards

Israeli captives have been released in organized ceremonies that include the handout of “release certificates” and staged photo-ops. The captives typically appear on a stage where they are given the opportunity to speak before a crowd, usually with a large banner behind them loaded with political messages in Arabic, Hebrew, and English alongside portraits of slain Hamas leaders.

Though these theatrical displays by Hamas have been taking place for weeks now, Netanyahu’s decision to suspend the release of Palestinian prisoners over the “degrading” ceremonies came on the heels of a viral moment in Saturday’s ceremony during which one of the Israeli captives, a male soldier, kissed two Hamas fighters on their heads before turning to smile, wave, and blow a kiss to the crowd while on stage.

While Israeli media reported that the captive was forced to kiss the Hamas fighters on their heads, outlets decried the release of the three dead bodies of the Bibas family in particular, in which the three coffins were brought to the stage before being handed over to the Red Cross teams. Israeli commentators considered the release offensive to the dead.

On Friday, Israel’s Abu Kabir Forensic Institute announced that one of the three bodies that were released did not belong to the mother, Shiri Bibas, as Israel accused Hamas of breaching the deal by handing over the body of a “Palestinian woman” instead. Hamas admitted the possibility of a mistake — citing the death of Bibas in an airstrike among many other Palestinians, which resulted in a misidentification — and handed over the correct body to the Red Cross later on Friday without a public display.  

Netanyahu later pledged to “make Hamas pay” for releasing the wrong body. Israel has accused Hamas of killing the Bibas family, while Hamas insists that they were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

The Israeli outcry against the “degrading” release ceremonies stands in stark contrast to the way in which Palestinian prisoners have been released over the course of the ceasefire, which includes releasing prisoners with bruises on their bodies and beating some prisoners in front of Red Cross members before release, according to some prisoners. 

Palestinian prisoners have also been forced to wear bracelets and sweatshirts with threatening inscriptions on them vowing vengeance by “the eternal people,” which has not garnered any similar level of outrage in Western or Israeli media. During the release of the sixth batch of Palestinian prisoners last week, the Israeli Prison Service took pictures of the Palestinian prisoners before their release, kneeling and dressed in sweatshirts bearing the phrase “We will not forgive or forget” alongside a Star of David.

Four of the Palestinians released last week were transferred to a hospital in Ramallah due to their poor health condition, while one of them, Ameer Abu Raddaha, had lost so much weight that his family members failed to recognize him.

Suspension an attempt to avoid second phase of ceasefire

The suspended release of Palestinian prisoners is the seventh out of eight scheduled prisoner exchanges during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Hamas has released all living Israeli captives who were set to be released during the first phase. According to the Israeli government, 60 Israeli captives remain alive in Gaza, with their release expected to be agreed upon during the second phase of the ceasefire. The second phase is also expected to include negotiations on the definitive end of the war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Talks on the second phase were scheduled to begin on the sixteenth day of the ceasefire three weeks ago. Netanyahu delayed sending a negotiating team to Cairo until after his latest visit to Washington and meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump’s call for the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza reinforced the position of Netanyahu’s far-right allies, especially his Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has continuously called for the resumption of the war on Gaza after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Smotrich has continuously threatened to resign from Netanyahu’s government if Israel doesn’t resume the war on Gaza, which is the position of several ministers in the Israeli cabinet who oppose moving to the second phase of the ceasefire. Israeli media reports have suggested that these ministers pressured Netanyahu to suspend the release of Palestinians in the hopes of avoiding the transition to the second phase of the ceasefire.

Netanyahu suspended the release of over 600 prisoners against the recommendation of Israeli security services, Axios reported. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that heads of military and security branches had advised Netanyahu to go ahead with the release, but that after Netanyahu’s meeting with the political leadership and members of his cabinet, he went ahead with the suspension.

As only one week remains until the end of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, chances of reaching a final agreement have dropped. Earlier this week, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, who was appointed to lead the negotiations on the second phase, and with Qatari Prime Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is mediating the talks on behalf of Qatar.

Israel has announced that it demands the end of Hamas’s control over Gaza to end the war, while Hamas has accused Netanyahu of using pretexts to avoid ending the war. Hamas also insisted on the end of the war, the full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and the reconstruction of Gaza.