The release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners planned for Saturday has been postponed “until the release of the next hostages is secured without humiliating ceremonies”, Israel has said.
In a statement early on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of “repeated violations” as it lashed out at “disgraceful ceremonies” during the handover of Israeli captives in Gaza.
The Israeli PM’s office said: “In light of the repeated and ongoing violations by Hamas – including the disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour the dignity of our abductees and the cynical use of captives for propaganda purposes – it has been decided to postpone the release of the terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next group of abductees is secured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”
The statement came as vehicles apparently carrying prisoners left the open gates of Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, only to turn around and go back in.
Image: Israeli forces at Ofer prison in the West Bank
The release of 620 Palestinian prisoners had been delayed for several hours and was meant to happen after six Israeli hostages were released on Saturday.
Five of the six captives were escorted by masked, armed militants in front of crowds – displays that the United Nations and others have criticised as cruel after previous handovers.
The final hostage was released to the Red Cross in private.
The Gaza ceasefire deal continues to hold, despite tensions rising earlier in the week when Hamas initially handed over the body of an unidentified Palestinian woman instead of Israeli mother-of-two Shiri Bibas.
The hostage-prisoner exchange earmarked for Saturday was supposed to be the last for the first phase of the ceasefire.
Israel had been expected to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including a man who has been detained for more than 40 years, and many more given life sentences.
However, as night fell across the region, they remained behind bars, with Hamas claiming their release had been delayed because some of them had been “assaulted”.
An Israeli spokesperson has denied the assaults and said the Red Cross were present at the prison.
The first two hostages released on Saturday were Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu.
Mr Shoham, 40, was visiting his wife’s family in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas militants stormed into the community during the October 7 attacks in 2023.
His wife, two young children and three other relatives were also abducted, but they were freed in an exchange in November 2023.
Image: Abra Mengistu hugs his family in Israel after his release. Pic: IDF
Mr Mengistu, a 39-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since he entered the territory on his own in 2014.
Watching the moment he was freed on TV, his family broke out in song as he walked free for the first time in more than a decade.
Later on Saturday, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
Image: Omer Shem Tov, a hostage held in Gaza since October 2023, pictured as he is released. Pic: Reuters
Mr Shem Tov, 22, was taken during the October 7 attacks on the Nova music festival.
The computer programmer had shared his live location with his family, who eventually noticed he was headed towards Gaza and contact with him was lost.
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Hostage reunited with parents
Mr Cohen, 27, was also taken from the Nova festival, alongside his fiancee.
Released hostages have said that he was kept in chains and deprived of food and sunlight during his time in captivity, according to reports.
Mr Wenkert, 23, was taken from Nova. He suffers from colitis and requires special medical care, it has been reported.
Finally, Hisham al Sayed, 28, was handed over in a private ceremony.
The Bedouin-Israeli, from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, has been a captive since he crossed into Gaza in 2015.
Image: Nael Barghouti pictured in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Who were the Palestinian prisoners due to be released?
More than 600 Palestinian prisoners had been set to be released on Saturday.
According to the prisons office, which is run by Hamas, they included 50 who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 described as having “high” sentences, 47 prisoners from the “Wafa al Ahrar” 2011 prisoner exchange deal who had since been re-arrested, and 445 who were arrested after 7 October attacks.
The “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal was the 2011 prisoner exchange agreement that saw the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1027 Palestinian prisoners.
Among the most high-profile Palestinians who had been set to be released was Nael Barghouti – the longest-serving prisoner, who has been inside for 43 years.
Also on the list were several journalists, many of whom covered events at al Shifa hospital, and Yousef al Mansi, a Palestinian minister in Gaza.
It had been expected that Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, would be among those being released on Saturday.
However it later emerged that he was not on the list of those set to be freed.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”