Seventh And Final Batch Of Palestinian Prisoners Released Under Exchange Deal With Israel

RAMALLAH, Feb 27 (Bernama-WAFA) -- Over 640 Palestinian detainees were set free from Israeli prisons late Thursday night as part of the seventh and final batch of the exchange deal under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.

The release was originally scheduled for last Saturday but had been delayed.

Among those freed, 37 detainees arrived in Ramallah, where hundreds of Palestinians and family members welcomed them in front of the Ramallah Cultural Palace and Mahmoud Darwish Museum Square.

Meanwhile, five detainees returned to the occupied Jerusalem.

A few hours after the ex-detainees reached the West Bank, over 400 prisoners, the vast majority detained during the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, began to arrive into the war-torn enclave.

Several prisoners were taken to the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis upon their arrival in the region.

Another 97 prisoners—most of whom were handed life sentences in Israeli prisons—were deported to Egypt, their first destination until some other countries welcome them.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the seventh batch included 641 detainees.

Among them, 151 were serving life sentences or long-term sentences, 42 were released to the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and 97 were exiled abroad. 

Additionally, 12 detainees from Gaza were imprisoned before October 7, 2023, while 445 were detained after that date. The group also included 45 women and children from Gaza.

-- BERNAMA-WAFA