About 90 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for three Israeli hostages handed over to Israel by Hamas as part of a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month war.
Most of the prisoners were released from Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah in the early hours of Monday, where they were welcomed by thousands of spectators waving Palestinian and Hamas flags and celebrating.
Mothers, fathers, siblings and friends waited for hours in the cold to hug their loved ones as part of the agreement.
Among those released was Shata Jalabaa, 24, who was arrested for posting on social media criticizing the “brutality” of Israel's operations in Gaza. “I'm so happy! Thankfully I'm out. They treated me very badly in prison. It was horrible,” she told the Guardian.
She was welcomed by her father, Nawaf Jalaba, 63, who spoke first: It has been since October 7th that the Israelis have behaved like this towards us, but the truth is that it has always been like this. ”
His hopes were also dampened by the fact that two other children were not included in the contract.
Another prisoner released is 18-year-old Ahmad Kusha, who was arrested in Jenin in January 2024. “They arrested me because my brother was killed in a gunfight in Jenin. After he died, they arrested me. They raided our cell on Saturday and then arrested us. They tortured us in cells every day. They also tortured and abused the women.”
Osama Shede, who was waiting to be reunited with his 17-year-old daughter Aseel, said:
“My daughter was arrested on November 7, 2024, while protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza. She was waving a Palestinian flag. An Israeli soldier shot her in the leg. They handcuffed her so she could stab the soldiers. The fact that she is now free means that Israel knew their daughter had done nothing wrong. He was in prison for over a year.”
Kaulaha Mahfouz, 53, who was arrested in June 2024 for the attempted stabbing of her daughter Ayat, 33, of Hebron, also expressed mixed feelings. “i am happy, [but] At the same time, my heart is sad and I have no desire to celebrate everything that is happening in Gaza. ”
In Ramallah's al-Fawakeh Square, hundreds of people chanted, “The people want al-Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas' armed forces in Gaza. In the Palestinian territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire were seen as a victory for Hamas over Israel.
However, in East Jerusalem, the homes of at least four prisoners were raided by Israeli security forces, and soldiers reportedly confiscated flags and symbols related to Palestine while explicitly warning relatives not to speak to the media. .
The Israeli Prisons Authority announced on Friday that it would take steps to prevent “public expressions of joy” by the families of Palestinian prisoners released under the deal.
On Sunday, three women held hostage by Hamas in underground tunnels in Gaza, Damali (28), Romi Gonen (24), and Doron Steinbrecher (31), were released and reunited with their mother. did. They will be hospitalized for several days, but are apparently in good health, according to the video.
In one video, Damari, who lost two fingers when he was shot the day he was kidnapped, smiles and hugs his mother as she holds out her bandaged hand.
The first phase of the ceasefire took effect after a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery attacked the Gaza Strip.
According to the Palestinian Health Authority, 13 people were killed in the last-minute airstrike. Israel claimed to have attacked terrorists, but Al Jazeera reported At least two missiles hit the family as they tried to return home in a donkey cart. The attack killed Ahmed Alkidra and two of his seven children, the broadcaster reported.
Minutes after the ceasefire began, the United Nations announced that the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered Palestinian territory.
An Egyptian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “260 aid trucks and 16 tanks of fuel” were to be transported to the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and between Egypt and Israel before entering Gaza. He said he entered the Nitsana intersection.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians also set out across the landscape to return to their homelands. In the northern region of Jabalia, hundreds of people streamed down sandy roads into an apocalyptic landscape of piles of rubble and destroyed buildings.
“We have finally arrived at our home. There is no house left, only rubble, but this is our home,” said Rana Mohsen, 43, who returned to Jabalia.
There is no detailed plan for governing Gaza after the war, much less rebuilding it. Nine out of ten homes were destroyed, as were schools, hospitals, shops, mosques, and cemeteries.
The World Health Organization said on Sunday it was ready to pour aid into the region, but it needed “systematic access” across the region. Until the ceasefire was signed, Israel had complete control over the amount and content of aid to Gaza, and was repeatedly brought to the brink of starvation.
“The health challenges ahead are enormous,” the Geneva-based organization warned, estimating the cost of “multi-billion dollar investments” just to rebuild the health system.
“Today, the guns in Gaza fell silent,” US President Joe Biden said on his last full day in office, welcoming a ceasefire that US diplomacy has avoided for more than a year. “We got to this point today because of Israeli pressure on Hamas, with support from the United States.”
The phase one deal between Israel and Hamas is to last 42 days, with the extremist group offering hundreds of Palestinians including children, women (including female soldiers), 50-year-olds, etc. They agreed to release 33 hostages, including the men mentioned above. He is being held in an Israeli prison.
The second phase of the ceasefire agreement would see the remaining surviving hostages repatriated, a corresponding proportion of Palestinian prisoners released, and Israel's complete withdrawal from the territory. Details are subject to further negotiations, which are expected to begin within 16 days of the start of the first phase.
The third phase will involve exchanging the bodies of dead hostages and Hamas members, and begin plans to rebuild Gaza. Arrangements regarding the Strip's future governance remain vague.
About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners scheduled for release are serving life sentences for acts of violence against Israelis. Some have been jailed for minor offenses, such as posting on social media, and others have been placed in administrative detention, which allows individuals to be preemptively arrested based on unreleased evidence.
According to a copy of the contract reviewed by authorities: According to the Guardian, nine disabled Israelis will be released in exchange for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.
Around 180 prisoners will reportedly be deported to Türkiye, Qatar and Algeria.
Men over the age of 50 on the list of 33 hostages will be released at a ratio of 1:3 in exchange for life sentences, and 1:27 for other sentences.
According to figures released by Israeli NGO Hamoked, there were 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli prisons as of January 2025. Approximately 3,376 of these people are in administrative detention, while 1,886 are classified as “illegal combatants” and are allowed to be detained without charge or trial. The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli government say the measures comply with international law.
Palestinians have long argued that imprisonment is a key element of Israel's 57-year occupation. According to various estimates, up to 40% of Palestinian men have been arrested at least once in their lifetime.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
