Gaza Ceasefire: Israel Releases Over 640 Palestinian Prisoners

Rabat – As the fragile Gaza truce holds Israel released today over 640 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed the release, scheduled for last Saturday, due to what he described as Hamas’ “humiliating ceremonies” while releasing Israeli hostages.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa said that over 400 of the released Palestinian prisoners arrived in Gaza, with many of them taken to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis.

Commenting on the health of the released prisoners, the nursing director at the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis Saleh Al-Hams noted that they “are in a state of severe emaciation, with some unable to walk due to the intense beatings and torture they have endured.”

This reflects the brutality that Palestinian prisoners undergo in Israeli prisons with no respect for human rights, he suggested.

In Ramallah, Palestinian families welcomed 37 of their freed loved ones in front of the Ramallah Cultural Palace and the Mahmoud Darwish Museum Square.

Meanwhile, 97 prisoners were deported to Egypt as they wait for some other countries to welcome them.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported receiving a freed prisoner who was in a coma, noting they transferred him to a hospital in the West Bank.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hamas said the “occupation’s attempts to delay the release of prisoners failed” due to the group insisting that Israel respects its commitments as well as Egypt and Qatar’s role as mediators.

The statement added that the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza is conditional on negotiation and Israel’s continued commitment to the terms of the ceasefire.

Hamas further renewed its commitment to the truce terms, pledging “readiness to start the second round of talks.”

Israel is “due to release 46 prisoners, all women and minors from Gaza,” according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group.

However, Israel continues to prove its determination to continue its war on Palestinians. Over the past few days, Israeli troops raided and destroyed several buildings in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, reflecting Israel’s broader plans of permanently displacing Palestinians from their lands and homes.