Hostage deal said on ‘brink of collapse’ after PM hardened stance on Palestinian prisoner release

The ceasefire and hostage release deal is on “the brink of collapse,” an unnamed Israeli source tells the Walla news site, as Israel is said to be in talks with the US and other mediating countries regarding the 602 Palestinian security prisoners that it was to have released on Saturday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided, late Saturday night, that Israel would postpone the release of the Palestinian prisoners until Hamas guaranteed that it would not conduct any more elaborate, propaganda-filled ceremonies when releasing hostages or transferring the bodies of those slain in captivity.

Speaking to Walla, however, the Israeli source says Hamas agreed that the transfer of the bodies of four hostages — the final release slated to take place in the first phase of the deal — could be carried out in private.

While the agreement seems to have met the conditions initially set by the premier for the release of the 602 security prisoners, the source says Netanyahu then hardened his stance and informed mediators that a commitment from the terror group was not enough, and that Israel would only release the prisoners after the bodies of the slain hostages were received by Israel.

“Unfortunately, there are people in the government who are more interested in Hamas’s ceremonies than they are in returning civilians for burial in Israel,” an official tells Walla.

In response, the Prime Minister’s Office dismisses what it says is “more fake news from the echoes of Hamas propaganda.”

“Through his aggressive stance, the prime minister has already returned 192 hostages and he is determined to return them all,” the PMO adds.