Ninety Palestinians have been freed from Israeli prisons and were greeted by large crowds of jubilant relatives, friends and supporters as they returned home to the occupied West Bank in the first prisoner exchange of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire following the release of three Israeli captives in Gaza.
At about 1am local time on Monday (23:00 GMT), Red Cross buses carrying the 90 Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where they were greeted by
crowds of thousands despite warnings from Israeli forces that celebrations would not be allowed.
The freed Palestinians included 69 women and 21 teenage boys – some as young as 12 – from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, crowds lifted many of the returned prisoners up onto their shoulders in an emotional show of support, as others shouted and whistled.
Some attending the gathering carried the flags of Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other armed resistance groups.
Bushra al-Tawil, a Palestinian journalist jailed in Israel in March 2024, was also among the prisoners released on Monday.
Tawil said she began her journey at 3am on Sunday morning (01:00 GMT), when she was taken from another Israeli prison ahead of release. In the second prison, she was grouped with other Palestinians awaiting release.
"The wait was extremely hard. But thank God, we were certain that at any moment we would be released,” she said.
The exact number of Palestinians due to be released as part of the ceasefire deal is still unknown, with reported estimates ranging from approximately 1,000 to nearly 2,000.
In the first phase of the deal, Hamas is expected to return a total of 33 Israeli captives over the next 42 days – with the next release due on Saturday.
The second phase of ceasefire negotiations is due to begin in two weeks.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, and nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced by Israeli evacuation orders and attacks. (Agencies)