Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday after three more Israeli hostages returned home following 16 months of captivity in Gaza, as a fragile ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Islamist group Hamas continues to hold.

Israel has decried the hostage release ceremony as “despicable and cynical” after one of the captives was forced to hold an hourglass that read “time is running out”. Condemning the spectacle, Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, said that the country will “do everything in its power” to free the rest of the captives held in Gaza.

The release of one of three Hamas hostages freed Saturday was cruelly spoiled when he was told his brother was killed in Gaza — and then learned his wife and children were slain in the Oct.

The Hamas militant group said Thursday it would release the next three Israeli hostages as planned this weekend in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, raising the prospect of resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Buses carrying some of the hundreds of Palestinian freed prisoners and detainees, some flashing victory signs as they hung from the windows.

Hamas-led militants released three male Israeli hostages Saturday and Israeli forces freed hundreds of prisoners in return, in the latest indication that a fragile ceasefire that had teetered in recent days is holding.

Israel is expected to release 369 Palestinian prisoners, in a highly scrutinized sixth exchange days after the tenuous one-month ceasefire appeared on the brink of collapse.