Israel says 737 prisoners to be freed in first phase of Gaza truce deal

AFP , Saturday 18 Jan 2025

Israel's justice ministry has said 737 prisoners and detainees will be freed as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal approved Saturday.

West Bank
People lift placards bearing portraits of Palestinians currently detained by Israel, including the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza Dr. Hossam Abu Safieh (C), during a protest in solidarity with them in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank. AFP

 

It said in a statement on its website that "the government approves" the "release (of) 737 prisoners and detainees" currently in the custody of the prison service.

Israel's cabinet voted to approve the ceasefire deal early Saturday, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, ending days of uncertainty about whether the truce would go into effect this weekend.

Those named by the ministry include men, women and children who it said will not be released before Sunday at 4:00 pm local time (1400 GMT).

It had previously published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners, the majority women, to be freed in exchange for Israeli captives in Gaza.

Among those on the expanded list was Zakaria Zubeidi, a chief of the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.

Zubeidi escaped from Israel's Gilboa prison with five other Palestinians in 2021, sparking a days-long manhunt, and is lauded by Palestinians as a hero.

Also to be freed is Khalida Jarar, a leftist Palestinian lawmaker whom Israel arrested and imprisoned on several occasions.

Jarar, a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was detained in late December in the occupied West Bank; the 60-year-old has been held since then without charge.

Two sources close to Hamas told AFP that the first group of captives to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers.

However, since the Palestinian movement considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians seized during their October offensive.

The first three names on a list obtained by AFP of the 33 captives set to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on 7 October 2023.

Justice ministry spokeswoman Noga Katz has said the final number of prisoners to be released in the first swap would depend on the number of live captives released by Hamas.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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