Israel is delaying the previously agreed release of 110 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails on Thursday after the chaotic handover of hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was taken by him and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
The statement said that the prisoners will only be released once the Islamist militants guarantee the safety of hostages during the handovers.
Palestinian militants earlier set free a total of eight hostages – three Israelis and five Thai nationals – who had been held since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
There were frenzied scenes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, where Arbel Yehud, a 29-year-old woman, and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man were released.
Broadcasters showed Yehud and Moses, accompanied by masked men, struggling to make their way through the densely-packed crowd of chanting people and to the waiting Red Cross vehicles.
