After seven weeks of war, the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began Friday morning. As part of this truce, 39 Palestinian women and children were released on Friday.
Here is what we know about those released and those who could be released in the coming days.
Who were the prisoners released on Friday?
Of the 39 Palestinians released by Israel, 17 are minors.
They are:
- Yousef Mohammad Mustafa Ata from Ramallah
- Qusai Hani Ali Ahmad of Bethlehem
- Jibreel Ghassan Ismail Jibreel of Qalqilya
- Mohammad Ahmad Suleiman Abu Rajab of al-Khalil
- Ahmad Nu’man Ahmad Abu Na’im of Ramallah
- Baraa Bilal Mahmoud Rabee of Al-Khalil
- Aban Iyad Mohammad Said Hammad of Qalqilya
- Moataz Hatem Moussa Abu Aram of al-Khalil
- Iyad Abdul Qader Mohammad Khateeb of Jerusalem
- Hazma Laith Khalil Othman Othman of Ramallah
- Mohammad Mahmoud Ayoub Dar Darwish from Ramallah
- Jamal Khalil Jamal Barahmeh of Areeha
- Jamal Yousef Jamal Abu Hamdan from Nablus
- Mohammad Anis Saleem Tarabi from Nablus
- Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahman Suleiman Rizq of Jerusalem
- Zeina Raed Abdou from Jerusalem
- Noor Mohammad Hafez al-Tahir from Nablus
Zeina and Noor are girls, the others are boys.
The remaining 22 Palestinians released Friday are women. They are:
- Rawan Nafez Mohammad Abu Matar from Ramallah
- Marah Joudat Moussa Baker of Jerusalem
- Malak Mohammad Yousef Suleiman of Jerusalem
- Amani Khaled Nu’man Hasheem of Jerusalem
- Nihaya Khader Hussein Sawan of Jerusalem
- Fayrouz Fisent Mahmoud al-Baw of Jerusalem
- Tahreer Adnan Mohammad Abu Suriya from Nablus
- Falateen Fareed Abdul Latif Najm from Nablus
- Walaa Khaled Fawzi Tanja of Tulkarem
- Maryam Khaled Abdul Majid Arafat from Nablus
- Asil Muneer Ibrahim al-Tayti from Nablus
- Azhar Thaer Bakr Assaf of Jerusalem
- Raghd Nashat Salah al-Fanni of Tulkarem
- Fatima Nu’man Ali Badr of Jerusalem
- Rawda Moussa Abdul Qader Abu Ujaima from Bethlehem
- Sara Ayman Abdul Aziz Abdullah al-Suweisa from Nablus
- Fatima Ismail Abdul Rahman Shahin from Bethlehem
- Samira Abdul Harbawi from Jerusalem
- Samah Bilal Abdul Rahman Souf of Qalqilya
- Fatima Bakr Moussa Abu Shalal from Nablus
- Hanan Saleh Abdullah al-Barghouthi from Ramallah
- Fatima Nasr Mohammad Amarnah from Jenin
When and how were they released?
They were transferred from Israeli prisons to the Israeli-controlled Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank in the early evening.
At 8:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT), they were released from Ofer on International Committee of the Red Cross buses.
Who could be released next?
Israel agreed to release 150 Palestinian women and children prisoners from its prisons in exchange for Hamas’ release of 50 of the women and children captured in the October 7 attack.
But the Israeli Ministry of Justice presented a list of 300 Palestinian prisoners whose release it is considering. It is unclear whether this is an offer for a possible second phase of exchanges since the agreement provides for the extension of a break in fighting by one day for every 10 additional captives released. by Hamas.
The list of 300 includes 33 women. The majority of other names are for boys aged 16 to 18. However, there are also boys as young as 14 on the list.
Most of the prisoners on the list were arrested between 2021 and 2023. Prisoners arrested in 2023 were arrested before October 7.
However, this also includes individuals like Shorouq Dwayyat, who was arrested in 2015 and is serving the ninth year of her 16-year sentence. Dwayyat is currently serving the longest sentence among Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
She was 18 when she was arrested and detained at Damon Prison in Haifa, accused of stabbing an Israeli settler with a knife. His family, eagerly awaiting his release, denies the accusations. “Shorouq is delicate and cannot harm an animal,” her father, Salah Dwayyat, told Tel Aviv Tribune at the time.
Why are they in prison?
Like Dwayyat, many other prisoners have been convicted of crimes including carrying and manufacturing knives and daggers. Other common offenses detailed in Israel’s list include:
- threaten security
- enter Israel illegally without a permit
- throw stones
- support terrorism
- associate with hostile/unknown organizations.
“The main crime alleged for these detentions is stone throwing, which can result in a sentence of 20 years in prison for Palestinian children,” said a report published in July by the children’s rights organization Save the Children.
Israeli publication Haaretz reported that Israel has refused to release those convicted of murder, but those convicted of attempted murder could be released.
Where will Palestinian prisoners go after their release?
According to the agreement, Palestinian prisoners will be taken from two Israeli prisons southeast of Haifa, namely Damon and Megiddo. They will then be taken to the Israeli military prison of Ofer.
There they will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and after their reception, “those from Jerusalem will go to Jerusalem, and those from the West Bank will gather at the Betunia municipal council where their families will wait.” “added Fares.
Israel has banned celebrations in Palestinian communities to mark the return of prisoners.
How many Palestinian prisoners are there in Israeli prisons?
There are 19 prisons in Israel and one in the occupied West Bank holding Palestinian prisoners.
Before October 7, there were approximately 5,200 Palestinians detained by the Israelis. However, following the Hamas attack on October 7, the number of Palestinians arrested skyrocketed and 3,000 more were arrested.
Among those arrested after October 7, 37 are journalists. The Palestinian prisoner support and human rights group Addameer reported that most of these journalists have been subjected to administrative detention, meaning they are held indefinitely behind bars without being tried or charged.
Addameer also reported that inmates are subjected to physical abuse and medical neglect in prisons. The report cites the example of a prisoner suffering from blood diseases and asthma. The prisoner was attacked, resulting in injuries and contusions to his head and eyes. The association reports that this prisoner has lost 10 kg since his arrest.
Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in Israeli prisons for more than 30 years, before the signing of the Oslo Accords. The term “eldest prisoners” is sometimes used locally to refer to them, reported Samidoun, an international solidarity network with Palestinian prisoners.
At least 700 Palestinian children under the age of 18 from the occupied West Bank are prosecuted each year in Israeli military courts after being arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli army.
Children detained in Israel often suffer physical, psychological and sexual abuse, and some are deprived of food, water and sleep, according to Save the Children.