Israel on Monday freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, in exchange of three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity. Buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners out of Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank were met by huge crowds cheering and waving flags. As per the list provided by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, all of those released were women or minors.
Gaza ceasefire comes to force
Gaza ceasefire is finally coming to force suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East. The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, involves Hamas gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages held in the Palestinian enclave over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.
Of the 90 detainees who were released today, 69 were women, one minor. eight male minors, and 12 men. Israel detained all of the people on the list for what it said were offences related to the country’s security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempt to murder.
Khalida Jarrar freed
The most prominent of the detainees being freed is Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, a secular Leftist faction that was involved in hijackings and other attacks against Israel in the 1970s but has scaled back its militant activities in recent years.
Since her arrest in December 2023, Jarrar was held under indefinitely renewable six-month administrative detention orders, a practice denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law.
Dalal Khaseeb, 53, sister of late senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri — who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in January 2024 — is also being released, along with Abla Abdelrasoul, wife of jailed PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat.
Next exchange on Jan 25
If the ceasefire continues, the next exchange is set for Jan. 25. Hamas is supposed to release four living female hostages. In exchange, Israel will release between 30-50 Palestinian detainees for each hostage.
(With inputs from AP)
