Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta
CAIRO/Ramallah (Reuters) – Thousands of Palestinians chanted praises for Hamas on Saturday as they welcomed prisoners freed under a ceasefire deal between the militant group and Israel that also saw four Israeli hostages return home.
In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, many carried the freed prisoners on their shoulders through jubilant crowds who had waited hours for buses carrying the prisoners to arrive.
Some waved Palestinian flags or flags of Palestinian factions including Hamas, the group that rules Gaza, its Iran-backed ally Islamic Jihad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.
Inside Gaza’s European Hospital in the south of the enclave, where 16 freed prisoners arrived for medical appointments, thousands gathered to welcome them, chanting Allahu Akbar “God is greatest” and “Greetings to the Qassam Brigades (Hamas’ armed wing)”.
Ikhlas Balousha, a Gaza woman, said her brother’s release brought happiness despite what she called the destruction, suffering, starvation and genocide experienced in the enclave.
“A sense of dignity, joy, a sense of victory despite the pain – a moment when you could have been a martyr, but thank God, the Lord of the worlds, who allowed us to see it,” she told Reuters.
Among the 200 Palestinians freed on Saturday were militants, some of whom are serving life sentences for their involvement in attacks that killed dozens, according to a list released by Hamas.
THE GAZANS ARE WAITING TO RETURN HOME TO THE NORTH
Some were released to the West Bank, while others returned to Gaza, which is now in ruins after 15 months of war. Those considered most dangerous by Israel were taken to Egypt before being exiled to a third country.
“I had no doubt that one day I would be freed. I was convinced of that,” said Mohammad Al-Arda, sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years for his membership in Islamic Jihad. He was arrested again in 2021 after digging his way out of prison through an improvised tunnel with three other prisoners.
“We were in solitary confinement, under pressure and pain. I swear to God that I also became happy when I saw the happiness of my people, a happiness that words cannot describe,” he said after returning to Ramallah.
Israel says those convicted of killing Israelis will not be allowed to return home. About 70 will be deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said, and from there to another country, perhaps Turkey, Qatar or Algeria. The Palestinians call the prisoners “heroes” and “freedom fighters”.
Naser Dawoud, a Hamas militant who spent 21 years in prison serving two life sentences for his role in attacks on Israel, said he could not believe his name was among those to be freed.
“I am a human being and I have been sentenced to life imprisonment, I did not expect this to happen, there have been some attempts before, but this time God has blessed us,” he told Reuters.
In the Gaza Strip, doctors at the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis began checking the health of newly released prisoners.
In a statement after the release of the Israeli hostages, Hamas said it had preserved the hostages’ welfare while “the enemy tried to kill them (the hostages).”
Some freed prisoners from northern Gaza will have to stay in the south of the enclave for a while until Israel allows hundreds of thousands of northern Gazans to return home, under the terms of the cease-fire agreement.
Hamas said it expected Israel to honor the deal by immediately withdrawing forces from the roads dividing the northern and southern parts of the enclave to allow some 650,000 people to return to their homes in the northern areas.
Witnesses said there was a stampede on the road leading north, which was blocked by Israeli soldiers who opened fire.
Doctors said one person died there from suspected Israeli fire, one of only a handful of deaths reported since the ceasefire began. Two others were injured.
In a statement, the Israeli military said that in the central Gaza Strip, IDF soldiers identified several gatherings of dozens of suspects who posed a threat and soldiers fired warning shots to respond to the threat. It said it was not yet known if the shooting caused any harm to the suspects.
