Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners to the delight of crowds in the West Bank after the return of three Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Some supporters were seen waving Hamas flags after they boarded buses transporting prisoners from Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside West Bank, Ramallah City, according to the Associated Press. All those freed were women and teenagers held on charges of Israeli national security.
“There is this double feeling that we live in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, for which we are all grateful, and on the other hand, this pain, because of the loss of so many Palestinian martyrs,” prisoner and political leader Khalida Jarrar told the news agency.
The 62-year-old is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization. Jarrar has been in and out of Israeli prison in recent years, and Human Rights Watch has previously called her arrests part of a broader Israeli crackdown on nonviolent political opposition.
THE FIRST HOSTAGES RETURN TO ISRAEL AFTER 471 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY
A crowd gathers around a bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners as it arrives in the West Bank city of Beitunia on Monday, January 20, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)
Bara’a Al-Fuqha, 22, hugged her family as she exited a white Red Cross bus into a sea of cheering Palestinians.
The medical student at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem spent about six months in prison before her arrest. She told the AP that she was being held in administrative detention — a policy of indefinite imprisonment without formal charges or trial.
“Thank God, I’m here with my family, I’m happy,” she said. “But my joy is limited, because so many among us Palestinians are tortured and abused. Our people in Gaza are suffering. God willing, we will work to free them.”
AUBURN COACH BRUCE PEARL ORDERS HAMAS AFTER HOSTAGES RELEASED
A Palestinian prisoner is greeted as he disembarks from a bus after being released from an Israeli prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia. (AP/Leo Correa)
The ceasefire and hostage deal includes Hamas’ gradual release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza over the next six weeks in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.
The first three hostages announced by Hamas on Sunday, all young women, identified as Doron Steinbrecher, 31; Romi Gonen, 24; and Emily Damari, 28.
Palestinians hold placards with a photo of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as they await the arrival of freed Palestinian prisoners, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, on Sunday, January 19. (AP/Leo Correa)
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“Over the next few days, they will undergo a series of medical tests in order to prepare the appropriate treatment after living through such a harrowing experience at the hands of Hamas terrorists,” said Yitshak Kreiss, director general of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center.
Louis Casiano of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
