The Israeli authorities have released 39 Palestinian detainees, including 6 women and 33 children, from Ofer Military Prison in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, and from Moskobiya Detention Center in Jerusalem.
This release is part of the second phase of a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel under the ceasefire agreement.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that a bus and vehicles from the International Committee of the Red Cross transported several of the released detainees from Ofer Military Prison to the municipality of Al-Bireh.
Meanwhile, the released female detainees from Jerusalem, numbering five women and one child, were received from Moskobiya Detention Center by their families.
Hundreds of citizens welcomed the released detainees in Al-Bireh’s municipality square, chanting slogans celebrating their release and calling for the release of all Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
From the early evening hours, hundreds of citizens and relatives of the detainees gathered at the entrance of Ofer Military Prison and Al-Bireh municipality square to welcome their daughters and sons being released.
In Jerusalem, Israeli forces prevented families of the female detainees from celebrating or receiving well-wishers at home and delayed the released detainee Israa Jaabis for several hours.
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Prisoners’ Club, in a joint statement, announced the names of the first batch of female detainees and child detainees being released, totaling 33.
The release is part of a “humanitarian truce” that came into effect in the Gaza Strip on Friday, following an Israeli offensive since October 7th that resulted in the deaths of over 15,000 citizens, including 6150 children and more than 4,000 women.
The truce, which is to last four days with a possibility of extension, involves the release of several detainees, including women and children from Israeli prisons, and the entry of relief supplies and fuel quantities.
WAFA noted that the number of prisoners in Israeli jails has reached 7,500, including 72 women and 250 children, with more than 3,000 Palestinians detained since October 7th.
