Hamas sent a chilling warning to the mother of a hostage still held captive on Saturday, telling her that “time is running out” to save her son.

In a stunt criticised as “despicable and cruel”, the terror group forced one of the three men being released to hold an hourglass above the photographs of Matan Zangauker, a 25-year-old captured on October 7, and his mother Einav, a high-profile campaigner for the hostages’ release.

With Mr Zangauker not on the phase one list of 33 people to be released, the threat appeared to be a warning to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to begin negotiations for the next phase, rather than return to war, as he and Donald Trump have threatened.

It comes after the emaciated state of the hostages released last week appalled the Israeli public and gave urgency to calls to expedite the releases.

The three men released on Saturday – Iair Horn, 46, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, and Sasha Troufanov, 29 – appeared generally healthier, although Mr Horn in particular had lost a significant amount of weight.

A release ‘ceremony’

Once again, Hamas staged a performative release “ceremony” in which they forced the men up onto a makeshift platform to answer questions into a microphone, while holding mocked-up certificates.

Condemning the spectacle, Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, said that what the hostages had been “forced to endure” was “despicable and cynical”.

Mr Dekel-Chen was later filmed in an emotional reunion with his wife Avital, who was heavily pregnant when he was kidnapped on October 7.