Sunday morning, the Prime Minister's office issued a statement that read, "In light of Hamas’s repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda purposes, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.”
The statement followed Hamas once again exploiting Israeli hostages for propaganda purposes while they were being released on Saturday. Five of the six hostages were paraded in front of a crowd. Two of the Israelis still being held hostage were forced to watch from just feet away.
Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen were forced to pose with the terrorists and even kiss the radicals on the head and blow kisses to the crowd. They were also forced to wear fake IDF uniforms, even though they weren’t enlisted when they were taken hostage.
This followed the macabre spectacle on Thursday of Hamas parading four coffins of Israeli hostages to a crown of Palestinians in front of a banner that said, "The war criminal Netanyahu & his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist warplanes."
Among the dead in the coffins were Ariel and Kefir Bibas, a 4-year-old and 10-month-old who were taken hostage alive with their mother Shiri by Palestinian civilians on Oct 7, 2023. Forensic analysis showed that the children were strangled weeks after they were taken and their bodies mutilated by Palestinians.
The body of their mother was not returned. Instead, when Israeli officials opened the coffins, they found the body of a random Palestinian woman. On Friday night, Hamas turned over Shiri’s body.
Israeli United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon told Fox News, "For 16 months, Israel has been fighting a deranged terrorist organization that places no value on human life, especially if it is Israeli or Jewish — all while international institutions like the U.N. refrained from condemning Hamas and formally demanding the immediate return of our hostages."
The United Nations said in a statement on X, "Under international law, any handover of the remains of [the] deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families."
