39 Palestinian women and minors who were detained on various charges were released, according to an agreement brokered by Qatar, in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli hostages who were held by Hamas during its attack on Israel last month.
Sawsan Bakir said, “There is no joy at all, even the joy we are waiting for.” She is the mother of Palestinian prisoner Marah Bakir (24 years old), who was imprisoned for eight years on charges of carrying out a knife attack in 2015. Israeli police were seen raiding Sawsan’s house in Jerusalem before Marah was released, according to Sawsan Bakir. Reuters.
Sawsan added, “We are afraid to be happy. Our workers are waiting and we are afraid to be happy and we cannot be happy because of the conditions in Gaza.”
More than 100 Palestinian prisoners are scheduled to be released over the next four days, and more may be freed if the truce is extended.
In the city of Beitunia, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, a huge crowd, mostly young men, welcomed the liberated prisoners by chanting, honking car horns, and marching through the streets carrying Palestinian flags.
Speaking from the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, Ismail Shaheen said he was waiting to see his daughter Fatima, who was arrested earlier this year after being accused of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack.
Shaheen, a 32-year-old computer expert, was shot during his daughter’s arrest. Shaheen said that he was shocked when he saw his daughter sitting in a wheelchair when he was allowed to visit her for the first time in prison, months after her arrest.
Shaheen said, “Currently, the deal, thank God, is the prisoner exchange deal. I mean, we were happy that it was going to happen and we were happy, but we were only a little happy, not more than twenty or thirty percent, because because of the circumstances of our brothers in Gaza, whose situation is very bad, thousands were martyred there.”
Israeli leaders pledged to free all hostages as they prepare to continue a campaign in Gaza launched by Israel following a Hamas attack in which 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed, according to Israeli statements.
About 14,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the ground operation it launched last month, and the army says it is preparing for the next phase of the operation once the truce ends.
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