Israel launched 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, together with a minimum of two veteran Hamas operatives from the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, in alternate for 3 Israeli hostages who had been held in Gaza.
Of these prisoners freed on Saturday, 138 had been from Gaza, together with 111 arrested after the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that ignited the 15-month conflict in Gaza.
Beneath the cease-fire deal, Israel dedicated to launch greater than 1,000 Gazans — together with many detained in the course of the Israeli floor invasion of the territory —- on the situation that that they had not participated within the Oct. 7 assault.
However a number of the most outstanding prisoners launched on Saturday had been from the West Financial institution, together with some who had been serving life sentences. Palestinians usually view the prisoners as freedom fighters towards Israeli occupation.
Enormous crowds of individuals greeted the arrival of a Crimson Cross bus carrying freed prisoners within the West Financial institution metropolis of Ramallah. Many appeared frail and skinny, sporting solely grey jumpsuits bearing the emblem of the Prisons Authority. Some wore worn-out plastic slippers whereas others had been barefoot.
Hours earlier, Israeli forces raided the household houses of a minimum of 4 of the lads launched to the West Financial institution earlier than they bought there, warning their family to not have fun their freedom.
One of many prisoners whose household dwelling was raided was Jamal Tawil, a senior Hamas operative within the West Financial institution, who had been imprisoned a number of occasions over current many years on fees of planning bombings and different assaults towards Israel.
He was taken on to a hospital in Ramallah after his launch.
“He’s struggling to breathe and may be very weak,” stated his daughter, Bushra Tawil, a journalist and activist who was launched in an earlier alternate final month. “I used to be shocked after I noticed him — he had been crushed on the top and different components of his physique till the final moments earlier than his launch.”
She stated her household had been threatened with arrest in the event that they publicly celebrated his return.
The Israeli army stated on Saturday that it had held discussions in current days with family of the returning prisoners, “clarifying the ban on celebrations” at their arrivals. The army assertion stated patrols had eliminated Hamas flags and different unspecified indicators of preparations for the prisoners’ returns.
For years, Israeli safety companies have discouraged or damaged up household occasions celebrating the discharge of militants, saying they immediate unrest and glorify terrorism. Israel has been notably assertive in suppressing celebrations for detainees launched underneath the present cease-fire deal, fearing that they could assist bolster the recognition of Hamas.
One other launched Hamas militant, Iyad Abu Shkhaydem, had been serving 18 life sentences, partially for planning the bombings of two buses within the central Israel metropolis of Beersheba that killed 16 individuals in 2004, for which he was sentenced by a army courtroom.
Israeli forces had nicknamed him “the engineer” of a Hamas cell within the West Financial institution metropolis of Hebron, in response to native media experiences. He was arrested after a 40-day manhunt.
Mr. Abu Shekhaydam, 50, who’s married with 4 kids, accomplished his highschool schooling and earned a level in psychology whereas in jail, in response to the Prisoners Affiliation, a rights group that gives authorized assist for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
The house of Shadi Barghouti, one other prisoner launched on Saturday, was additionally raided, in response to relations. Mr. Barghouti was serving a 27-year sentence for planning or collaborating in assaults, in response to the Israeli Justice Ministry.
The Barghoutis, father and son, had overlapped in jail. The elder was convicted within the 1978 killing of an Israeli, however launched in a 2011 prisoner cope with Hamas. Fakhri Barghouti was ready on the Ramallah Cultural Palace when his son arrived on Saturday — the primary time that they had met exterior of jail since 1978. They had been each tearful, however smiling, as Shadi Barghouti knelt upon seeing his father.
Seven of the launched prisoners who arrived in Ramallah had been taken to the native hospitals, in response to the Palestinian Crimson Crescent.
Islam Hamad, from Nablus, needed to be carried by relations. His mom burst into tears when she noticed his situation, together with an injured hand. She was too overwhelmed to talk to a reporter.