Israel has delayed an expected release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for returned Israeli hostages “until further notice,” the Palestinian Prisoners Society said early Sunday.

Hisham al-Sayed was the sixth hostage and was handed over to the Red Cross in a private exchange in Gaza City - Hamas has not explained why, but Israeli media reported it was "out of respect" for the Arab community in Israel, to which he belongs.

Israel says the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is delayed “until the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies."

The three captives in Gaza – identified as American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, Russian-Israeli Alexander Sasha Trufanov, and Argentinian-Israeli Yair Horn – were freed to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross during a brief ceremony in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis.

The White House said on Sunday that it supports Israel's decision to delay releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners, citing the "barbaric treatment" of Israeli hostages by Hamas. Delaying the prisoner release is an "appropriate response" to the Palestinian militant group's treatment of the hostages,

Hamas on Sunday (February 23) condemned Israel's decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, saying its claim that the hostages' handover ceremonies are "humiliating" was false and a pretext to evade Israel's obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Hamas released six living hostages on Saturday in separate locations of the Gaza Strip. Hours later, Israel said it would delay releasing Palestinian prisoners

Families waiting for the release of some 600 prisoners remain in limbo after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Saturday that he would delay their release, a decision that violated the exchange terms of the ceasefire agreement after Hamas had earlier released six Israeli hostages.