Israel is breaking its ceasefire duties, according to Hamas, and Netanyahu is delaying the release of 600 Palestinians.

The prisoners were to be freed as part of the last prisoner-hostage swap of the first phase of the deal. They would have been the most Palestinians freed so far.

Families of about 600 prisoners are still waiting for news about their loved ones after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that he would delay their release. This went against the terms of the ceasefire deal because Hamas had already freed six Israeli hostages.

Netanyahu said that the delay was due to “Hamas’s repeated violations,” such as “ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical use of our hostages for propaganda purposes.”

People have said that Hamas’ ceremonies for releasing prisoners back to Israel were too planned out and lacked spontaneity.

Netanyahu said that he would not free these Palestinian prisoners “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the sad ceremonies.”

The office of the Israeli prime minister says that there are still 63 hostages in Gaza. Of these, 27 are thought to be living. There are still no plans in place for their release.

Hamas was angry about the delay and said that the accusations about the ceremonies were a “flimsy pretext aimed at evading the agreement’s obligations.”

It also said that the delay put the ongoing ceasefire deal “in grave danger” and asked the US and other countries to put pressure on Israel to free the Palestinians it was holding.

The Palestinian prisoners and detainees were the biggest group to be freed under the ceasefire agreement. They were freed as part of the last prisoner-hostage exchange of the first stage of the deal. It would have had 445 people in jail who were not ordered to prison time and 24 women and children.

More than 400 of these prisoners were going to Gaza, where people were waiting outside in the freezing cold to get their loved ones.

Asia Khaleel Fayyad got to meet her husband a day early after traveling with her son and her husband’s father. She waited nervously by the bus stop with her son on her lap, afraid that the reunion might be pushed back forever.

Fayyad told the NBC News team, “The stress killed us.” “We can’t wait any longer.” We no longer have any hope. The wait began yesterday, and we got there early yesterday to meet them. We are really scared that they will ruin our happiness and make us wait until tomorrow or the day after to meet them.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that Israel’s move to keep more than 600 Palestinians from being freed was “organized terrorism against the prisoners and their families.”

A bus and other Red Cross cars were waiting outside of Ofer Prison in the West Bank, which is controlled by Israel, on Saturday.

The ceasefire’s first part was supposed to end on March 1, but it has now been pushed back twice, which is a big problem for the agreement.

Even though there have been setbacks, the ceasefire deal has held. Israel has said that Hamas held ceremonies that were humiliating during the hostage releases, while Hamas said that Israel was stopping aid from getting into Gaza.

Last week, Hamas sent Israel a box that it said held the body of Shiri Bibas, a hostage. After tests, the Israel Defense Forces said the body was not their own.

Israeli leaders were very angry about what happened, and the IDF called it “a very serious violation” of the ceasefire. Hamas said it was a mistake and said Bibas’s body parts might have been “mixed” with those of other people who were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Early Saturday morning, Hamas sent back to Israel more body parts that were proven to be Bibas’.