A third group of 39 Palestinian prisoners have been released as the exchange of captives between Hamas and Israel continues for a third day as part of a four-day truce agreement.
Large crowds of Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday evening, waiting for Red Cross buses transporting the prisoners.
Some waved Palestinian flags alongside those of the two main Palestinian political parties, Hamas and Fatah. Some young people climbed on top of a white bus carrying mainly young men and a few female prisoners.
“At first we didn’t believe it,” Shakir Mahajna told Tel Aviv Tribune as he waited with his family for his son Omar, who recently turned 18.
“The last time I visited him, he was frustrated, he told me, ‘Dad, I want to leave,'” said Mahajna, whose son was 16 when he was arrested and he four months of sentence remained.
“After what happened in October, I was even more afraid,” Nour Ara’ar, whose brother Zeid, 17, was arrested in July, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Everything was suspended because of the war,” she added. “The trial did not take place.”
“We are happy, but we have mixed feelings. Our joy is incomplete because of what is happening in Gaza,” she added.
Meanwhile, in nearby Beitunia, where Palestinians had also gathered, three Palestinians aged 15, 18 and 33 were injured after Israeli forces fired live ammunition, the Crescent Society said. Palestinian Red (PRCS). Two children, aged 11 and 13, were admitted to hospital for tear gas inhalation, the PRCS added.
Hamas releases an American child and a Russian
Earlier on Sunday, Hamas handed over 13 Israeli captives, including nine children and four foreign nationals – three Thais and one Russian Israeli – to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of the truce agreement.
The Israeli Russian was released “in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in recognition of Russia’s stance in support of Palestine,” Hamas said in a statement. He is the first male prisoner to be released since the truce agreement came into force.
US President Joe Biden said a four-year-old Israeli-American girl, Abigail Edan, whose parents were killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, was also among those freed.
“She is free and she is in Israel,” he said, adding that another American citizen – a 45-year-old woman – had also been released. Biden also urged the parties to extend the truce agreement to allow more releases.
The prisoner exchange was delayed for a few hours on Saturday after Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce agreement. The impasse has raised concerns that the deal could slide.
The impasse was resolved through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
Around 150 Palestinian prisoners and 50 civilians detained in Gaza are to be released over four days under the Israel-Hamas deal.
Israel’s ground and air attack on the besieged Gaza Strip has so far killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and left large swathes of the enclave in ruins.
Netanyahu’s Gaza ‘photo op’
Before Sunday’s exchange, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Gaza, the first since the assault on Gaza began last month.
“We continue until the end – until victory,” he told the soldiers, according to footage posted online by his office.
“Nothing will stop us, and we are confident that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the objectives of the war, and we will.”
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said it was the first time an Israeli prime minister had entered Gaza since Israel disengaged from the enclave in 2005.
“It’s a historic visit,” he said. “We heard Netanyahu talk about victory, but not in this place. This place is what he wants the Israeli public to see,” he added, calling it a “photo op.”
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said it sought to extend the four-day truce with Israel if serious efforts were made to increase the number of Palestinian detainees released from Israeli prisons.
Speaking from Beirut, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told Tel Aviv Tribune he expected US President Biden to push Israel to end its war in the Gaza Strip.
“President Biden has the ability to end the Israeli offensive against Gaza. He has the power to do so and talking about extending the ceasefire is not the solution.
“The solution is to stop the Israeli attack on Gaza and force Israel to implement international resolutions regarding the Palestinian people,” he said.