More than 100 women, children among 491 Palestinian prisoners to be released to Gaza
The crews of the Red Cross are now facilitating the transfer of 491 Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons and providing services to them during the journey back to the Gaza Strip.
They conducted pre-departure interviews with the detainees to check their medical condition, and the prisoners have been provided with clothes and personal equipment due to the cold weather conditions in Gaza.
The prisoners were also given means to communicate with their families in order to ensure that they are fully aware of the release of their loved ones.
At the European Hospital in Khan Younis, families are waiting for the arrival of the buses of the Red Cross. The prisoners will undergo medical examinations at the hospital and will later be reunited with their families.
It is worth noting that more than 100 Palestinian women and children under the age of 19 will be released today.
This has been a very emotional and overwhelming day for the families, many of whom had not received any updates about the fate of their loved ones. Some confirmed to us today that they believed the prisoners were killed by the Israeli military during the war.
97 Palestinian prisoners to be deported after being freed: Prisoners’ Media Office
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office has released information on the prisoners who will be released by Israel today.
According to the statement, among the 151 prisoners with life sentences and long sentences, 43 prisoners will be released to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, 97 prisoners to be deported abroad and 11 prisoners jailed before October 7, 2023, will return to Gaza.
Meanwhile, 445 other prisoners from Gaza jailed after October 7 will head back to the enclave, in addition to 24 female and child prisoners.
Release of long-serving Palestinian prisoners could increase Hamas popularity
Nael Barghouti, who is being released today after spending more than four decades in Israeli captivity, is not just the longest-serving Palestinian, but by some accounts the longest-serving prisoner in the world. He was first released as part of a swap in 2011 and rearrested in 2014.
Mohammed Dahleh, a human rights lawyer who has been practicing in the Israeli and Palestinian legal systems since 1993, says this is significant not just for Barghouti and his family, but for the Palestinian people in general.
“The Palestinians see the prisoners as their heroes and the ones who have been leading the national struggle for decades,” he told Al Jazeera from occupied East Jerusalem.
“Nael Barghouti is a symbol of sacrifice and determination and the fact that he is being released for a second time proves to the Palestinians which party is actually able to get people out of prison, and this grows Hamas’s popularity.”
Dahleh pointed out that the Palestinian Liberation Organization negotiated with Israel for many years, but did not manage to release prisoners.
“Israel had this criteria whereby if a Palestinian was so-called ‘stained’ by Israeli blood, he could not be released through political negotiations,” he said. “There is no Palestinian family which does not have a prisoner in Israeli detention or has not had a member imprisoned in the past, or will not be faced with this situation in the future.”
Iman Nafi, wife of longest-serving Palestinian prisoner Nael Barghouti
