2K Palestinians Freed, Defying Occupation with Celebration

By Staff, Agencies

Palestine's Prisoners' Information Office confirmed 38 buses carrying Palestinian detainees from Gaza has departed to Gaza Strip, marking a significant phase in the large-scale exchange deal underway as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

According to the media director of the Prisoners' Affairs Office, several detainees who have spent decades behind bars are among those being freed. A total of 154 detainees were deported abroad, while others returned to their homes in the West Bank, occupied al-Quds, and Gaza.

The director noted that the occupation attempted to evade its obligations under the agreement, as it has in previous deals. However, the Palestinian Resistance insisted on confirming the agreed-upon names, including long-term detainees and those captured from Gaza. 

"We made improvements to the list of detainees, especially those detained from the Gaza Strip," it added.

In Khan Younis, large crowds gathered to welcome the liberated detainees, with flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad raised in celebration. 

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, buses carrying released detainees arrived in Ramallah, where people assembled at the Ramallah Cultural Palace to greet them.

Reuters reported that 1,966 Palestinian detainees had been prepared for release earlier in the day, boarding buses inside "Israeli" prisons. Among them, 250 detainees serving life sentences were released to the West Bank, occupied al-Quds, and locations abroad.

On that note, the "Israeli" occupation intensified efforts to suppress public celebrations in occupied al-Quds and the West Bank following the release of Palestinian detainees on Monday under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

According to Siraj Abu Arafa, a lawyer with the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in al-Quds, the "Israeli" intelligence service summoned the families of detainees released, pressing them to sign conditional release agreements.

Abu Arafa explained that the imposed conditions include a ban on public gatherings, assemblies, or any form of celebration.  

On another note, in a statement on Monday, Hamas highlighted the failure of so-called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF], after two years of a brutal war of extermination, to forcibly recover their captives. 

Hamas stressed that the occupation was ultimately forced to accept the Resistance’s conditions, reiterating that the only path to returning their captives was through a negotiated exchange and a complete halt to the aggression.

The movement emphasized that the Resistance made every effort to preserve the lives of the captives, despite ongoing attempts by what it described as the "war criminal Netanyahu and his terrorist army" to target and eliminate them. In contrast, the statement pointed out that Palestinian detainees in "Israeli" jails are subjected to systematic abuse, torture, and murder.

Hamas further stated that the liberation of its "heroic detainees," many of whom are serving life or long-term sentences and have spent decades behind bars, is the result of the Gaza Strip’s resilience and the bravery of the Resistance.