Israel says the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be delayed "until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed, and without degrading ceremonies" at the handover of Israeli captives in Gaza.
The statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office was issued just after midnight on Sunday morning local time, as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left the open gates of Israel's Ofer military prison, only to turn around and go back inside.
The release of the 620 Palestinians had already been delayed for several hours, and was meant to occur just after six Israeli hostages were released in Gaza on Saturday, the final living hostages scheduled to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire agreement.
Five of those hostages were escorted by masked, armed militants in front of a crowd — a display that the United Nations and others have criticised as cruel after previous handovers.
Prior to the prime minister's statement, Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal by delaying the prisoners' release.
Among the group to be released are 51 Palestinians serving life sentences for serious crimes, including one man who has spent more than 45 years behind bars.
Nael Barghouti was jailed in the late 1970s for the killing of an Israeli bus driver, before he was released in a 2011 prisoner swap, and then jailed again for terror offences.
He is commonly referred to as the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner.
In recent weeks, the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails has prompted debate about the treatment of prisoners — with many of those freed alleging serious mistreatment and neglect behind bars.
Jubilation as Israeli hostages are freed
On Saturday afternoon, six living Israeli hostages returned home, reunited with their family and friends after being held captive by Hamas.
Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were released in Nuseirat in central Gaza. The three men were abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Mr Shem Tov kissed the head of one of the masked Hamas militants standing alongside him on stage, before he was handed over to the International Red Cross.
"That's Omer, he's just that kind of kid, he gets on with everyone," his grandmother Sara told Israeli media. "Even Hamas, they love him even there."
The Israeli government released video of the three men and their families celebrating in a hospital near Tel Aviv, standing in a group singing and toasting their release.
Mr Wenkert joked his brother had gained weight, as they came face to face for the first time in 16 months.
"You became like your brother before captivity," he quipped.
"I learnt from the best," his brother replied.
"For every kilo he put on, you lost two," the pair's father Shai said.
A fourth man, Tal Shoham, was freed by Hamas hours earlier in Rafah.
He was abducted from Kibutz Be'eri while he was visiting his in-laws.
Mr Shoham stood alongside another Israeli hostage, Avera Mengistu, on the stage flanked by armed fighters.
Mr Mengistu, who has a history of mental illness, wandered into Gaza in 2014.
Another hostage, whose ordeal pre-dated the war in Gaza, was released without ceremony in Gaza City.
Hisham Al-Sayed entered Gaza in 2015, and his father has told Israeli media he was not communicating after his release.
He has also lived with mental health concerns.
Bibas family calls for restraint in discussing killing of mother and two sons
The release of the six living hostages tempered the outpouring of grief across Israel in recent days, following the return of the bodies of four hostages who were killed in captivity.
The plight of the Bibas family — mother Shiri and her two young sons Ariel, and Kfir, who were four years old and nine months old respectively when they were abducted — has fuelled outrage and anger.
Their remains were presented to Israeli authorities on Thursday, but forensic testing quickly revealed the body of a Palestinian woman had been delivered by Hamas instead of Shiri Bibas.
The group tried to rectify the situation late on Friday, releasing her body in the middle of the night to the Red Cross.
Israeli forensic authorities have rejected Hamas's insistence the trio were killed in an Israeli air strike, with the Israel Defense Forces going one step further to claim Ariel and Kfir were murdered by Hamas with "their bare hands".
The IDF has not publicly released the evidence for that assertion, but said it had provided the information to its "partners around the world".
On Saturday, Yarden Bibas, who was released alive after more than 15 months in captivity, thanked the Israeli public for their support after his wife and children were killed.
But in a statement, the family asked for restraint in discussing the situation.
"The family requests to cease adding details regarding the fact that Shiri and the children were murdered by their captors," the Bibas family said.
"Yarden and the family want the world to know this was murder, without delving into any specifics.
"The family has not received any such details from official sources. Any such publication adds deep pain to the family at this time."
In Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, a shrine was set up for the Bibas family and fellow Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Oded Lifshitz, whose remains were returned alongside Ariel and Kfir on Thursday.
Meirav Mishan and her daughter were among those paying their respects.
"I was hoping to the very last minute that they were all still alive. I really didn't want to believe that it was true, even when we saw the caskets with the alleged bodies in them," Ms Mishan said.
"I still had hope that [Hamas] won't be able to hurt such small babies and an elderly person, it's just heartbreaking."
She said the handling of Shiri Bibas's remains was hard to comprehend.
"I don't think even if someone wanted to write about it in a movie or in a story, they would have been able to think something like that," Ms Mishan said.
"[Hamas] just have no hearts."
Another Israeli watching on, Lauren Puris said the incident gave an insight into how Hamas operates.
"They're trying to make an exercise to realise if we're dumb — they'll bring a poor woman from Gaza to Israel," Ms Puris said.
"They tested us. They have no value — not for the living or for the dead."
Hamas said it would investigate how the incident occurred, and on Friday suggested the remains of a Palestinian woman killed in the same air strike could have been mixed up with those of Shiri Bibas.
ABC/AP
