At least 7 freed Palestinians admitted to hospitals immediately after their release due to their bad health situation
GAZA — Israel set free a new group of Palestinian prisoners from prisons on Saturday under a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
A Red Cross bus carrying 42 prisoners arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah, to a cheering crowd who gathered since early morning to welcome the freed detainees.
The detainees were set free from the Ofer military prison near Ramallah under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal that took effect on Jan. 19.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, at least seven freed Palestinians were admitted to hospitals immediately after their release due to their bad health situation.
The Hamas-run Prisoners Information Office said two buses carrying freed prisoners also arrived at the European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis via the Kerem Shalom crossing after their release from Israeli prisons.
The freed detainees were welcomed by thousands of people who gathered in the city to welcome them, according to an Anadolu reporter.
Israel is set to free 183 prisoners on Saturday in a swap for three Israeli captives released by Hamas early in the day.
Sixteen Israeli captives and five Thai workers have so far been released under the Gaza ceasefire in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
A ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 47,500 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave. — AA
