The world watched with bated breath as Hamas released 13 Israeli and 11 foreign hostages, and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.
24 women and 15 boys, who were being held in two prisons in Haifa in northern Israel, were initially transferred to Ofer detention center in the West Bank. The Palestinian prisoners were handed over to International Red Cross officials there, and then transferred to the Beitunia checkpoint, where a crowd of thousands of people were waiting for them.
There was noticeable enthusiasm when the convoy arrived in Beitunia, and the Palestinian prisoners were greeted with fireworks, slogans and flags.
The released Palestinian women and men under the age of 18 were reunited with their families. Merah Bakir, who spent eight years of his life in Israeli occupation prisons, said that freedom was a surprise to him.
Upon arriving at her mother’s home in the Beit Hanina neighborhood in Jerusalem, the young woman said that she “had no idea what was happening outside and what was happening in Gaza” because she was in a cell. “The news of the agreement came as a surprise,” she said.
Merah Bakir expressed his deep pain towards the Palestinians who lost their lives in Gaza, and added that he would like to study law at university.
Bakir, who was arrested in 2015 when he was just 16 years old, was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for attacking a border police officer with a knife.
“Great, we weren’t expecting this.”
Palestinian Raghad Al-Fani (24 years old) described the welcome in Beitunia as “wonderful” and said, “It was a surprise for us. We did not expect this much.” The young Palestinian woman had been detained in Israeli occupation prisons without any charges since October 2022.
Hanan Al-Barjosi, 59 years old, one of the liberators, chanted slogans praising Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and said that she gained her freedom thanks to the resistance movement.
There are more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. 6,000 prisoners were arrested for security reasons. Many of these people are still awaiting trial. In addition, Israel is the only country in the world that keeps children in prison.
(Tags for translation)Gaza