Gaza: Israel released 642 Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, of whom 500 were taken to Gaza, dozens to the West Bank and 97 to Egypt.
The freed Palestinian prisoners were taken to a European hospital in Gaza for medical check-ups, while prisoners in the West Bank were given a warm welcome. Many prisoners met their families after serving life sentences.
Yahya Sherida, a Palestinian prisoner released in Ramallah, described Israeli prisons as “living graves” and said: “We have been taken out of torture as if we were being taken out of our own graves.”
According to Arab media, many of the prisoners who returned from Israeli captivity were in very poor condition, some missing limbs and possibly maimed by torture. Some were transported to Gaza by ambulance due to the severity of their injuries.
The release is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, under which Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages killed in the fighting.
The first phase of the ceasefire ends on March 1, and mediators are working hard to keep hopes of a second phase of talks alive, but calls within the Israeli government to resume the war could threaten that effort.
