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Israel says it is indefinitely delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, in another potentially major setback in the ceasefire process.

Benjamin Netanyahu said the release was now going to be delayed until the next handover of hostages by Hamas was guaranteed – and without what the Israeli prime minister called the degrading ceremonies Hamas has put on each week. Only one more handover – of the bodies of four hostages who died in captivity – is due to take place in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is due to end on 1 March.

No arrangements for the release of other living hostages, due to take place in the second phase, have yet been made.

Delegations from Israel and Hamas were due to negotiate the exact terms of the second phase while the first was ongoing – but have yet to meet. Mediators will be working overtime to get the deal back on track and avert a possible collapse after both Israel and Hamas accused one another of breaking the terms of the agreement.

Netanyahu accused Hamas of “repeated violations”, including the “cynical use of the hostages for propaganda purposes”.

In response, Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq strongly condemned the decision to postpone the release of the prisoners in a statement on the morning of Sunday, February,23.

said that Israel’s claim that the handover ceremonies were humiliating was a “false claim and a flimsy argument” aimed at evading its obligations under the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu’s statement came after four hostages taken captive on 7 October – Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert – were released on Saturday.

The two other released hostages, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, were held in Gaza for years – Mr Mengistu since 2014 and Mr al-Sayed since 2015.

In exchange, Israel was supposed to release 602 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement by delaying the release.

The six Israeli hostages are the final living hostages to be returned as part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, outside the Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, family and friends waited for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
According to Palestinian authorities, 50 prisoners who were going to be released were serving life sentences, 60 had long sentences, and 445 were detained by Israel since 7 October.

There are 62 hostages taken on 7 October 2023 still being held by Hamas, about half of whom are believed to be alive.

Hamas began releasing hostages, facilitated by the Red Cross, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners after the ceasefire agreement took effect on 19 January. Initial chaotic scenes have become more choreographed, with hostages flanked by fighters on stages before the handovers.
On Saturday, Mr Shoham, 40, and Mr Mengistu, 39, were passed to the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza before being transferred to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Mr Shoham was visiting family at Kibbutz Be’eri in October 2023 when he and others, including his wife and two children, were kidnapped by Hamas. His captured family members were released after 50 days.

In a statement, his family said, “This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing. Our Tal is with us.”

Mr Mengistu, who is Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held by Hamas since September 2014 when he crossed into northern Gaza. and Mr al-Sayed, a Bedouin Arab Israeli who entered Gaza in 2015, had both suffered from mental health problems in the past, according to their families.

Mr al-Sayed’s release was conducted privately in Gaza City on Saturday.

“After nearly a decade of fighting for Hisham’s return, the long-awaited moment has arrived,” his family said in a statement. “During these days, we need privacy for Hisham and the entire family so we can begin to care for Hisham and ourselves.”

Separately, at Nuseirat in central Gaza, Mr Shem Tov, 22, Mr Cohen, 27, and Mr Wenkert, 23, were freed in another public show by Hamas.

All three were taken captive at the Nova music festival.

Mr Shem Tov had initially escaped by car when Hamas fighters descended on the festival but was captured when he went back to rescue his friends.

Mr Cohen had hidden with his girlfriend Ziv Abud in a shelter at the festival but was found and driven away. The shelter was bombed, but Ms Abud survived and escaped.

Mr. Wenkert managed to send text messages to his family when festival-goers were being attacked, to tell them he was going to a safe shelter, but they lost contact with him.

Crowds in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square greeted the public releases with cheers as they watched them unfold on a live feed.

Families celebrating the return of the six men called for all remaining hostages to be released.

“Our only request is to seize this window of opportunity to secure a deal that will… return all hostages home,” Mr Shoham’s family said.

The remaining hostages include Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American soldier captured on 7 October.

His mother, Yael Alexander, who was watching Saturday’s hostage release, told the BBC it was “amazing” to see them freed, but for her family it is “very tough” waiting. “There are more than dozens of young men alive, like my son, still waiting to be released,” she said. “This is the main goal, to release the live people now from Gaza.”

Saturday’s joyful scenes contrasted with earlier this week, when the bodies of hostages Shiri Bibas, her two young sons and another captive Oded Lifschitz were returned to Israel.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and 251 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,319 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

A British couple in their seventies have been arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were returning to their home in Bamiyan on 1 February when they were detained.

The couple have been running training projects in Afghanistan for 18 years and their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, told the BBC she had not heard from her parents in more than two weeks.

It is not known exactly what the couple were arrested for but projects run by them include one training mothers and children, which had apparently been approved by the local authorities despite a ban by the Taliban on women working and on education for girls older than the age of 12. The couple, who originally met at the University of Bath, married in Kabul in 1970. Since 2009 they have been running training projects in five schools in Kabul and one project in Bamiyan training mothers and children.

While the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 saw most of their staff leave—along with most westerners—Mrs. and Mrs Reynolds insisted on staying put.

After their arrest, the couple were initially able to keep in touch with their four children by text message. The family knew that their parents were being held by the interior ministry and were assured by them that they were “fine.”

Three days later, however, the texts stopped. The children have heard nothing since.

Ms Entwistle, who lives in Daventry, Northamptonshire, told the BBC: “It’s been over two weeks since the messages stopped, and they were taken into custody.

“We would like the Taliban to release them to go back to their home and continue their work.”

She told the Sunday Times: “They said they could not leave when Afghans were in their hour of need.

“They were meticulous about keeping by the rules even as they kept changing.”

Their daughter told the Times: “My mother is 75 and my father almost 80 and [he] needs his heart medication after a mini stroke. They were just trying to help the country they loved. The idea they are being held because they were teaching mothers with children is outrageous.”

The couple were arrested alongside their American friend Faye Hall and a translator from their business, the PA news agency reported quoting an employee. The employee, who described the pair as “the most honourable people I have ever met,” said Mr Reynolds had been denied access to heart medication and his condition was “not good.”

Ms Entwistle and her three siblings have written a letter to the Taliban, pleading with them to release their parents.

“We do not understand the reasons behind their arrest,” they wrote. “They have communicated their trust in you, and that as Afghan citizens they will be treated well.”

“We recognise that there have been instances where exchanges have been beneficial for your government and western nations. However, our parents have consistently expressed their commitment to Afghanistan, stating that they would rather sacrifice their lives than become part of ransom negotiations or be traded.”

The Foreign Office is aware two British nationals have been detained in Afghanistan. But assistance is limited by the fact that the UK does not recognise the Taliban and has no embassy in Kabul.

Taliban official sources have told the BBC they arrested British nationals, who they believe were working for an non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Bamiyan province.

An official claimed they had been arrested, about 20 days ago, after using a plane without informing Bamiyan police headquarters or the border security forces.

The Taliban announced women would be banned from working for NGOs in 2022 and in December last year Al Jazeera reported the government had said it would close any NGOs employing women.

Singapore’s biggest bank says it expects to cut 4,000 roles over the next three years as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on more work currently done by humans.

“The reduction in workforce will come from natural attrition as temporary and contract roles roll off over the next few years,” a DBS spokesperson told the BBC.

Permanent staff are not expected to be affected by the cuts. The bank’s outgoing chief executive Piyush Gupta also said it expects to create around 1,000 new AI-related jobs.

It makes DBS one of the first major banks to offer details on how AI will affect its operations.

The company did not say how many jobs would be cut in Singapore or which roles would be affected.

DBS currently has between 8,000 and 9,000 temporary and contract workers. The bank employs a total of around 41,000 people.

Last year, Mr Gupta said DBS had been working on AI for over a decade.

“We today deploy over 800 AI models across 350 use cases, and expect the measured economic impact of these to exceed S$1bn ($745m; £592m) in 2025,” he added.

Mr Gupta is set to leave the firm at the end of March. Current deputy chief executive Tan Su Shan will replace him.

The ongoing proliferation of AI technology has put its benefits and risks under the spotlight, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saying in 2024 that it is set to affect nearly 40% of all jobs worldwide.

The IMF’s managing director Kristalina Georgieva said that “in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality”.

The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, told the BBC last year that AI will not be a “mass destroyer of jobs” and human workers will learn to work with new technologies.

Mr. Bailey said that while there are risks with AI, “there is great potential with it”.