Bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees arrives in West Bank
Live TV footage has shown a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli prisons arriving in the West Bank. Crowds cheering can be seen surrounding the bus.
Key events
Crowds greeted buses filled with dozens of freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees as they arrived in the West Bank. Israel released 183 more Palestinian men as part of its ceasefire agreement with Hamas, who had earlier released three male Israeli hostages.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) have this from the Israeli army in relation to the news that it struck a Hamas weapons depot in the Deir Ali area, southern Syria:
Israeli “fighter jets conducted an intelligence-based strike on a weapons storage facility belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in the area of Deir Ali in southern Syria”, the military said in a statement.
Away from Gaza now and Reuters is reporting the Israeli army said it had struck a Hamas weapons depot in the Deir Ali area in southern Syria.
We will bring you more details on that as and when we get them.
Gaza ceasefire hostage exchange – a round-up of today’s events so far
If you are just joining us, here’s a update on what has happened today in the fifth Gaza ceasefire exchange:
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Three more Israeli hostages – Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami – were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip earlier today.
Hamas accuses Israel of ‘slow killing’ of Palestinian prisoners and detainees
Hamas accused Israel of adopting a policy it described as the “slow killing” of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in Israeli jails after seven Palestinians freed on Saturday were admitted to hospital, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The fact that seven prisoners were transferred to hospitals immediately after their release … reflects the systematic assaults and mistreatment of our prisoners by the Israeli prison authorities,” Hamas said in a statement, adding that it was “part of the policy of the extremist Israeli government, which pursues the slow killing of prisoners inside the prisons”.
Lawyers for British-linked hostages in Gaza have shared a statement on the release of Eli Sharabi today. It says they and their clients, the Sharabi and Brisley families, are “delighted” that Eli Sharabi has been released but are “saddened but unfortunately not surprised at Eli, Ohad and Or’s physical condition and the grotesque spectacle of their release”.
In the statement, the lawyers say that all other hostages still being held in Gaza “must be unconditionally and immediately freed”.
The lawyers’ statement continues:
We would like to pay tribute to Eli’s family, including our extraordinary clients Stephen Brisley and Sharon Sharabi, who despite their trauma and grief have campaigned relentlessly for the release of Eli, Yossi and all other hostages for 16 months, alongside their amazing family friend Annabel Sheldon. We hope that they will now begin on a road to some kind of peace, and that the public will grant them the space they need to do so.”
Work on the second stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, aimed at securing the release of about 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, has begun and an Israeli negotiating team was expected to fly on Saturday to Doha, Israeli media reported on Friday.
But Hamas’s claim that Israel has delayed the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid supplies food and other humanitarian supplies as agreed under the truce deal – an accusation Israel denies – shows how little trust there is between the two sides, as Reuters reports.
The Israeli military said on Friday that commanders were conducting situational assessments ahead of the next phase of the agreement currently being discussed, with troops deployed at various points around the Gaza Strip.
In exchange for the three Israeli hostages’ release, Israel is freeing 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people, as well as 111 detained in Gaza during the war.
In Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, a bus carrying 42 freed Palestinians was welcomed by a cheering crowd, reports Reuters.
Among those freed was Eyad Abu Shkaidem, sentenced to 18 life terms in Israel for masterminding suicide attacks in revenge for Israel’s 2004 assassinations of Hamas leaders. “Today, I am reborn,” Shkaidem told reporters upon arrival in Ramallah, as the crowd cheered.
Many of the prisoners and detainees freed appeared in poor health and some complained of ill-treatment. “The occupation humiliated us for over a year,” said Shkaidem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said they have taken six of the 42 released prisoners to hospitals.
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.
Rights groups have reported grave abuses of Palestinians in Israeli detention since the start of the Gaza war. The Israeli military is investigating several cases of alleged abuse but rejects allegations of systemic abuse within its detention facilities.
Seven Palestinians freed by Israel admitted to hospitals, says NGO
Seven Palestinians who were among those freed by Israel on Saturday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal were admitted to hospitals upon arriving in Ramallah, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“All the prisoners who were released today are in need of medical care, treatment, and examinations as a result of the brutality they were subjected to during the past months. There are seven who were transferred to the hospital,” said Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the NGO.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed that seven Palestinians released today had been admitted to hospitals.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy has shared the following on X:
After 491 days of agony, 3 more hostages – including Eli Sharabi who has strong UK links – have finally been released. They and their families have suffered an unimaginable ordeal. The ceasefire deal must be implemented in full, including the release of the remaining hostages.”
Here are some more images coming in via the newswires today:
A bus carrying a group of Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed by Israel in exchange for Gaza hostages arrived on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist said.
Part of the fifth hostage-prisoner swap under a fragile Gaza truce, the released Palestinians stepped off the bus one by one to a cheering crowd who had gathered since the morning in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority.
Egypt says Israeli suggestion to establish Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia ‘irresponsible’
Egypt condemned on Saturday as “irresponsible” statements by Israeli officials suggesting establishing a Palestinian state on Saudi territory, according to a statement by Egypt’s foreign ministry.
The foreign ministry said it considered the suggestion a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty”, adding that the kingdom’s security was a “red line for Egypt”.
Egypt has released a statement in which it condemns “irresponsible” Israeli remarks against Saudi Arabia on establishing a Palestinian state on Saudi territory, according to a beaking news line on Reuters.
More details soon …
Armed Hamas militants handed over three male Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in central Gaza, as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were captured by Hamas during the attack on 7 October 2023, and have been held in the Gaza Strip for more than 15 months. In the latest exchange, Israel will free 183 more Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Most of the 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released by Israel on Saturday include (111) Palestinians from Gaza who were detained after the 7 October 2023 attack. Of the 183, 18 people released were serving life sentences for committing deadly attacks and 54 were serving long-term sentences. All are men, ranging in age from 20 to 61.
While Israel considers them to be terrorists, Palestinians view them as battling Israeli occupation, reports the Associated Press (AP). Virtually every Palestinian has a friend, relative or acquaintance who has been imprisoned, it adds.
Bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees arrives in West Bank
Live TV footage has shown a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli prisons arriving in the West Bank. Crowds cheering can be seen surrounding the bus.
