Israel briefly delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners in protest over chaotic scenes during an earlier handover of hostages by Hamas, with the government saying it’s now satisfied future releases will be better managed.
The 110 detainees will be freed at 5pm Israeli time, roughly three hours later than planned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that following his demand, mediators delivered a commitment that a safe exit will be guaranteed for Israeli hostages in the next round of swaps.
“Israel insists that lessons be learned and that in the next rounds, there will be extra care in ensuring the safe return of our hostages,” the Israeli premier’s office said.
It’s unclear if the short suspension will have an impact on the six-week ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which paused the war in Gaza after 15 months of fighting that devastated the Palestinian territory. Yet given the issue was quickly resolved, the next hostage-prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as scheduled on Saturday.
The Palestinian prisoners were meant to be freed after the return of three Israeli and five Thai hostages from Gaza.