Israel on Monday freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees from its prisons as part of the initial phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal, with the Prisoners’ Media Office confirming that buses transporting the released inmates from Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, had arrived in Beitunia town in the occupied West Bank.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that 96 prisoners serving lengthy sentences reached the town aboard two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) buses.
The Prisoners’ Media Office further disclosed that 154 freed prisoners were transferred to Egypt as part of the ceasefire deal.
It added that buses carrying over 1,700 prisoners released from Negev Prison in southern Israel also arrived in Gaza.
“Under the current deal, 250 prisoners serving life sentences and long prison terms, as well as 1,718 prisoners arrested from Gaza after October 7, 2023, were released,” the office said in a statement.
Israel’s Prison Service confirmed that 1,968 Palestinian inmates were freed under the Gaza ceasefire arrangement.
Hostage exchange under truce
According to an Anadolu reports, the first group of released prisoners reached the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, for medical checkups.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered to celebrate their return, with hundreds assembling inside hospital courtyards while others waited outside to welcome them.
The releases followed the transfer of 20 living Israeli hostages by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Hamas also announced plans to hand over the remains of four Israeli hostages on Monday as part of the same truce.
A statement by the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said the bodies of Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Bipin Joshi, and Daniel Perez will be transferred.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal began on Friday under US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the two-year Israeli war on the enclave.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have claimed over 67,800 Palestinian lives in Gaza mostly women and children rendering much of the territory uninhabitable.
