After Hamas releases 6 hostages, Israel says it will delay release of prisoners
LONDON -- Hamas released six living hostages on Saturday in separate locations of the Gaza Strip -- including the city of Rafah in the south and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the enclave.
Stages were set up in each location on Saturday morning, surrounded by Hamas fighters and crowds of onlookers.
In exchange for the latest release of hostages, Israel was expected to release hundreds of Palestinians from its prisons but delayed the release of the prisoners until further notice, a source confirmed to ABC News.
In a statement posted on the X account of the Israeli prime minister later on Saturday, the Israeli leader said the release of prisoners would be delayed "in light of Hamas's repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes."
The prisoner release will be delayed "until the release of of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies," the statement said.
The decision was also reportedly in response to the delayed return of Shiri Bibas' body, and the deaths of her and her two young children shortly after their kidnapping, a source confirmed to ABC News earlier.
The release of hostages Saturday came as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Two hostages -- Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39 -- were released following a signing ceremony in Rafah.
"According to the information communicated by the Red Cross, two hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip," a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency said. "The IDF is prepared to receive additional hostages who are due to be transferred to the Red Cross in the near future."
Meanwhile, after a signing ceremony between Red Cross and Hamas officials, three hostages -- Eliya Cohen, 27; Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omar Wankert, 23 -- were released in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
"According to the information communicated by the Red Cross, three hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip," read a separate joint statement from the IDF and ISA. "The IDF is prepared to receive an additional hostage who is due to be transferred to the Red Cross in the near future."
A sixth hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was the last to be released, according to Israeli officials and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He was being accompanied by Israeli forces to a meeting point in southern Israel to reunite with his family.
"Israeli citizens embrace the six returnees who returned to Israel today," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
ABC News' Jordana Miller contributed to this report.
