File: Red Cross staff and Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, stand inside a bus as they arrive in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. AFP
Earlier, Israel's prison service said it had begun transferring the Palestinians to the Ofer and Ktziot jails. The occupation authorities are expected to release at least 1,700 Palestinians kidnapped from Gaza and about 250 Palestinian prisoners.
In exchange, Hamas has until Monday to hand over its 48 remaining Israelis -- living and dead.
According to Israel’s Justice Ministry, 15 of the 250 prisoners will be released to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank, and 135 will be deported abroad.
The list notably excludes several senior Palestinian figures long seen as symbols of resistance.
More than 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, where, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect—conditions that have led to numerous deaths in custody.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says at least 7,000 Palestinians remain missing in Gaza, with cases still unresolved. The figure does not include those believed to be buried under the rubble, according to the organisation’s chief spokesman, Christian Cardon.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been detained at Israeli checkpoints or rounded up during army raids without any notification to their families, the ICRC said.
The Israeli army has also seized an unknown number of Palestinian bodies, claiming to be searching for Israeli captives or those it identifies as militants. Several hundred corpses have been returned to Gaza, but without identification. They were buried in anonymous mass graves, deepening families’ anguish and uncertainty.
Investigating the missing, according to humanitarian experts, requires advanced DNA technology, samples from families and unidentified bodies, and aerial imagery to locate burial sites and mass graves. Yet Israel has restricted the entry of DNA-testing materials into Gaza, effectively halting efforts to identify the dead.
International experts commissioned by a UN body and major human rights groups have concluded that Israel has committed the crime of genocide in Gaza. The experts said the obstruction of humanitarian and forensic work, including the denial of tools needed to identify victims, is part of a broader pattern aimed at erasing evidence of war crimes and collective punishment.
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