DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Israel is expected to release dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire deal.Hamas has released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement, handing them over to Red Cross officials in Palestine Square in Gaza City.
Later on Saturday, in exchange for the second release of the captives on Saturday, 114 Palestinians were released from Israeli jail.
Ahead of the release in Gaza, scores of masked Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters gathered at the square where a large crowd of Palestinians also congregated.
In addition to hundreds of Hamas members, other Palestinian factions, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, were also present at the site.
Representatives of the Red Cross and a Hamas fighter were seen signing documents ahead of the release.
Hamas identified the four female Israeli soldiers as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. The four captives, who were in Israeli military uniforms, waved to the crowd as they were released.
Palestinians gather in Palestine Square [Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters]
Ibrahim Al Khaliji, reporting for Al Jazeera from Palestine Square, described the release as a “historic moment”.
Later on Saturday, the Israeli army confirmed it received the released soldiers from the Red Cross, adding that they will undergo a medical assessment.
“The four returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF [Israeli army] special forces and ISA [security agency] forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the army said in a statement.
However, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Palestinians will not be allowed to return to northern Gaza until Arbel Yehoud, one of the captives, is released. The statement said Yehoud was supposed to have been released on Saturday.
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that Yehuda is alive and will be released next Saturday.
Palestinians held in Israeli jails
Later, three buses carrying 114 released Palestinians departed Ofer Prison and headed to Beitunia, west of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel is expected to release 200 detained Palestinians from Ofer Prison and Ketziot Prison in the Negev desert.
Of the 200, 121 are serving life sentences, while 79 are serving long sentences. The oldest prisoner is 69 years old while the youngest is just 15. Seventy Palestinians are due to be deported with Egypt expected to host them for 48 hours.
They will consequently be sent to Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey, which all agreed to receive them.
Relatives and friends of Israeli people killed and abducted follow the news of the release as they gather in Tel Aviv [Ariel Schalit/AP Photo]
In Tel Aviv’s central square, dubbed Hostages Square, a big screen showed the faces of the four female soldiers that were released. In the crowd, people waved Israeli flags, while some held posters with the captives’ faces.
“I’m extremely excited, exhilarated,” one person among the crowd, Gili Roman, told The Associated Press. “In a heartbeat, in a split of a second, their lives are going to turn upside again, but right now for a positive and a good side.”
As part of the deal, Israeli forces are also expected to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza.
Israel is also expected to open the Rafah border crossing in the south for more humanitarian aid and other commercial supplies to enter.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, said many Palestinians consider Saturday’s exchange of captives and prisoners as more important as it will pave the way for their return to northern Gaza.
Khoudary quoted sources as saying that many displaced Palestinians were already massing near the Wadi Gaza area, getting to cross to the north starting on Sunday.
Four Israeli soldiers, dozens of Palestinians released in ceasefire deal | Israel-Palestine conflict News
