The Palestinian group of Hamas released three Israeli captives in two separate transfers in exchange for the release of 183 Palestinian prisoners of Israeli prisons, in the last stage of a progressive exchange under a cease-fire agreement concluded after 15 months of Israeli attacks against Gaza.
The Double National-National-Israeli Ofer Kalderon and Israeli citizens Yarden Bibas were given to the Red Cross in the city of Khan Younis of Khan Younis, Tel Aviv Tribune Southern Gaza, showed on Saturday.
More than an hour later, the American-Israeli dual Keith Siegel was given to the officials of the Red Cross in Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave.
As soon as the three Israeli captives reached Israel, the process to release 183 Palestinian prisoners began in fourth exchange of this type under the ceasefire agreement on January 19. At least 73 of these Palestinians served prison terms and lifetime sorrows.
The first bus transporting a group of 32 Palestinians from the Israel OFER prison reached Ramallah in an occupied West Bank, where they were welcomed by jubilant parents.
Among the liberated people, there was an anonymous elderly Palestinian, who was transported in a wheelchair.
Of the 183 Palestinians released on Saturday, 111 were taken by Israeli forces in Gaza after October 7, 2023.
They were released in Gaza on Saturday. They include seven people expelled by Israel through Egypt.
A large crowd broke out of jubilation while the buses carrying the prisoners arrived at the European hospital in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza.
Tareq Abu Azzoum from Tel Aviv Tribune, who reported Khan Younis, said the ICRC had deployed two missions to the European hospital and Karem Abu Salem to assess the prisoner’s health conditions.
There are approximately 4,500 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons – 310 of them held by the so -called “administrative detention” without law at a lawsuit.
Basil Farraj, analyst of the University of Birzeit, said that the release of Palestinian prisoners “does not end the brutal conditions” to which the Palestinians are subject to Israeli prisons. He said that the Palestinians are treated as “sub-human” by the Israeli authorities.
He warned that Israel is likely to stop some of those who have been released as in the case of previous detentions.
‘Quite incredible’
Earlier on Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters were seen to queue and manage the crowd to Khan Younis and Gaza City, while the Israeli captives Kalderon, Bibas and Siegel were released.
The three captives have reached Israel, where they will undergo a first medical control before meeting their families.
The fate of the wife of Bibas and two young children, also caught in captivity by Hamas, is still unknown.
Abu Azzoum of Tel Aviv Tribune, which reported earlier on the Liberation site in Khan Younis, described the transfer as “well organized” compared to the previous versions.
“The scene is quite incredible, without being hit before. Usually such transfressions are made in very tense circumstances, “he said.
Luciano Zaccara, professor at Qatar University and expert in the Middle East policy, said that the latest version of captives has proven that Hamas was still “able to organize and manage the situation in Gaza” despite the bombardment Israeli of several months.
“Even if Israel said that Hamas had been destroyed, the scenes we have seen give you an idea that Hamas is still there,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“The exchange evolves without delay and we hope that the second phase of the ceasefire will begin as planned.”
Rafah opens
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Rafah’s border crossing also opened its doors for the first time in almost nine months to allow sick and injured Palestinian patients in Gaza to go to Egypt for a medical treatment.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said on Saturday a group of 50 patients crossed by Rafah to reach Egypt.
Hani Mahmoud, from Tel Aviv Tribune, reporting from Gaza City, said each of the Palestinian patients was authorized to be accompanied by three family members.
Gershon Baskin, an Israeli columnist living in Western Jerusalem, noted in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune that there are “very few discussions on the opening” of the crossing of Rafah in Israel.
With the planned completion of the first phase of the ceasefire on Saturday, negotiations should start on Tuesday in the second phase of the agreement. The talks will cover the release of more than 60 remaining captives, the release of more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The six-week initial ceasefire, agreed with Egyptian mediators and Qatari and supported by the United States, has so far remained on the right track despite a certain number of incidents that have led both parties to accuse the other to violate the agreement.
The attack on Hamas on October 7, 2023 killed 1,139 people and took more than 250 captives, according to Israeli figures.
An Israeli military campaign after the attack on Hamas destroyed a large part of the densely populated Gaza Strip and killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health authorities.
