Israel releases 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of cease-fire deal to free hostages
Israel has released 90 Palestinian prisoners to cheering crowds in the West Bank following the return of three Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Some supporters were seen waving Hamas flags after climbing on top of the buses carrying detainees from Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to the Associated Press. All of those freed were women and teenagers who were being held on charges related to Israeli state security.
"There’s this double feeling we’re living in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs," released detainee 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 U.S. 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 Israel’s wider crackdown on non-violent political opposition.
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Bara’a Al-Fuqha, 22, hugged her family as she stepped off the white Red Cross bus and into the sea of cheering Palestinians.
A medical student at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem before her arrest, she had spent around six months in prison. She told the AP that she was held under administrative detention – a policy of indefinite imprisonment without formal charge or trial.
"Thank God, I am here with my family, I’m satisfied," she said. "But my joy is limited, because so many among us Palestinians are being tortured and abused. Our people in Gaza are suffering. God willing, we will work to free them, too."
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The cease-fire and hostage deal involves Hamas gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees from the West Bank and Gaza.
The first three hostages released by Hamas on Sunday, all young women, were identified as Doron Steinbrecher, 31; Romi Gonen, 24; and Emily Damari, 28.
"Over the next few days, they will undergo a battery of medical tests in order to prepare proper treatments after enduring such a torturous experience at the hands of Hamas terrorists," said Yitshak Kreiss, the director-general of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.