39 Palestinian women and children have been released from Israeli prisons under the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A second group of hostages, released by Hamas, arrived in Israel, which in turn released a second group of Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, the second day of truce after seven weeks of devastating war.
According to Egyptian and Israeli authorities, 13 Israeli hostages have been released as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The movement also released four Thai hostages.
Majid Al-Ansari, spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, which is carrying out a mediation mission, confirmed that 13 Israelis, eight children and five women, as well as four foreigners had been released.
More kidnapped Israeli and Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released on Sunday, on the third day of the truce between Israel and Hamas, following the release of two batches on Friday and Saturday.
Who are the liberated Palestinians?
The Israeli Prison Service announced Saturday evening that it had released 39 Palestinians. Television footage showed a number of the released people being welcomed into their homes in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that prisoners released by Israel under the swap deal included 6 women and 33 children.
He said that a bus and vehicles belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross transported a number of prisoners released from Ofer military prison to Al-Bireh municipality, while the 5 Jerusalemite women prisoners and one child were released from Al-Bireh prison -Maskobiyya, where their families received them.
In a joint statement, the Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Prisoners’ Club announced the names of the prisoners who had been released.
The most notable of those released was Israa Jaabis (38), convicted of detonating a gas cylinder in her car at a checkpoint in 2015, injuring a policeman, according to Israeli authorities. sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Jaabis, from Jerusalem, was considered one of the “most dangerous medical cases” among female detainees, as she suffered severe burns, especially to her face, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
In East Jerusalem, Israa Jaabis (38) warmly and emotionally embraced her family members after arriving at their home.
She said while hugging her son Moatasem: “My pains are visible, I don’t need to talk about them, apart from my pain in terms of feelings, sentiments and longing for my family,” according to Agence France-Presse.
According to a statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, one of the most notable prisoners released is Shorouk Saleh Ibrahim Dwayyat, originally from Jerusalem, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison and had been in prison since 2015.
Shorouk Dwayyat said in statements released from his home after his release that he was “feeling joy mixed with pain,” according to Reuters, citing televised statements.
He added: “I feel like I’m in a dream, but I hope the war in Gaza ends as soon as possible.”
Among those released was Maysoon Musa Mahmoud Musa Al-Jabali, from Bethlehem, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison and had been in prison since 2015.
Maysoon Al-Jabali, who spent eight years behind bars after a 15-year prison sentence, said: “Our situation in prison was very difficult and life in prison was completely unbearable,” reported Agence France- Press.
Among those released was Fadwa Nazih Kamel Hamada, originally from Jerusalem, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and had been in prison since 2017.
Aisha Yousef Abdullah Afghani, from Jerusalem, sentenced to 13 years in prison and in prison since 2016, was also released.
Among them is Nourhan Ibrahim Khader Awad, originally from Jerusalem, sentenced to 10 years in prison and in prison since 2015.
As for the rest of the names, they include 33 children from Jerusalem and various areas of the West Bank, including Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Qalqilya and Jericho.
Israeli authorities released 39 prisoners, including 24 women and 15 children, on Friday as part of the first phase of the swap deal with Hamas.
Interestingly, the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons has reached 7,500, including 72 women and 250 children, while more than 3,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since the October 7 attack, according to Lofa.
War broke out between Israel and Hamas after a surprise attack launched by the movement on military sites and residential areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children , and 239 people were abducted, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel responded with intense air, sea and land bombardment on the besieged Gaza Strip, followed by a ground operation, which was halted with the start of the truce on Friday. The death toll in Gaza has reached 14,854 people, including 6,150 children and more than 4,000. women, in addition to the wounding of around 36,000 people, while the number of deaths reached 14,854. The missing: almost 7,000 are missing, according to Hamas authorities.