One of the Palestinian prisoners released in the fifth hostage-prisoner swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal reaches out to a greeter as he embraces his young child while being carried on the shoulders of a man upon arrival at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP
Palestinian prisoners released today include 131 who returned to Gaza, including 111 who were arrested after 7 October 2023.
They included 45 prisoners released in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Seven Palestinians accused by Israel of committing the most serious offences were deported to Egypt per the terms of their release, reported Al Qahera News.
On the other side, earlier on Saturday, Hamas released three Israeli captives, Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, all seized by Palestinian factions on 7 October 2023.
Palestinian Hamas fighters escort Ohad Ben Ami on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. AFP
Their release leaves 73 out of 251 Israelis and other foreign nationals captured on 7 October to be swapped.
The fifth prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas ushers in the start on Monday in Doha of negotiations on the terms of completing the second phase of the three-phased ceasefire agreement to end the war.
One of the Palestinian prisoners released in the fifth hostage-prisoner swap under the Gaza ceasefire deal is embraced by his mother upon arrival at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP
The three-phased ceasefire to end the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, went into effect on 19 January.
According to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Israel would release 1.900 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 33 Israeli captives in the first phase of the deal.
In Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, relatives and supporters gathered to welcome inmates released by Israel, embracing them and cheering as they stepped off the bus that brought them from nearby Ofer prison.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group and the Palestinian Red Crescent said that seven of them had been admitted to hospital in the West Bank.
A Palestinian prisoner with health issues, newly released from an Israeli prison, is carried out of a bus by a member of Red Cross as another carries an oxygen canister upon his arrival in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. AFP
"All the prisoners who were released today need medical care... as a result of the brutality they were subjected" to in jail, said the advocacy group, which has long decried abuses of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
In a statement, Hamas accused Israel of "systematic assaults and mistreatment of our prisoners", calling it "part of the policy of... the slow killing of prisoners."
In Israel, The Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government on Friday to stick with the truce.
"An entire nation demands to see the hostages return home," the Israeli campaign group said in a statement.
"Now is the time to ensure the agreement is completed -- until the very last one," it added.
After Saturday's swap, Netanyahu's office said an Israeli delegation would head to Doha for further talks.
"With the completion of the release phase, Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed the dispatch of a negotiation delegation to Doha to discuss technical details of the agreement," his office said in a statement, adding that on his return to Israel from Washington, Netanyahu will "hold a security cabinet meeting regarding negotiations for the second phase of the hostage release deal."
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