Citing Hamas’s “humiliating” treatment of released hostages, Israeli officials say Israel will delay the seventh release of Palestinian prisoners.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has postponed the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners initially scheduled for Saturday. Sunday morning, Netanyahu’s office released a statement criticizing Hamas’s propaganda during the prisoner exchange.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office read: “Due to Hamas’s repeated violations, including the humiliating ceremonies for our hostages and the cynical exploitation of our hostages for propaganda, the planned release of terrorists for yesterday has been delayed. This delay will remain in effect until the release of the next hostages has been assured and occurs without humiliating ceremonies.”

This announcement follows reports that Hamas fighters exploited Israeli prisoners during their release. On Saturday, armed militants escorted five of the six freed hostages in front of a crowd, including three Israeli hostages who were made to pose with terrorists.

Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen were among the hostages compelled to pose with the terrorists. Shem Tov was also reportedly forced to appear cheerful, kiss two militants on the head, and blow kisses to the crowd.

The three also wore fake army uniforms, despite not being enlisted when Hamas captured them.

In a separate ceremony orchestrated by Hamas, four coffins were displayed in front of a caricature of Netanyahu, accompanied by a banner stating, “The war criminal Netanyahu & his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist warplanes.”

Speaking to Digital, Israel’s United Nations Ambassador Danny Danon described the act as “evil and depraved.”

Danon stated, “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.”

The United Nations has also condemned the coffin incident.

“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,” the United Nations Geneva said on X, attributing the quote to High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.

The Associated Press and Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.