Israel releases 596 Palestinians to Gaza, West Bank, Egypt

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Israel on Thursday released 596 Palestinians held in jails as part of the seventh exchange under the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner-hostage deal with Hamas.

It came after the Palestinian group handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, 37 Palestinians were freed in Ramallah, central occupied West Bank and five in East Jerusalem.

One prisoner received by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, in a coma, was transferred to a hospital in the West Bank.

As many as 456 Palestinians were released and transferred to the Gaza Strip, according to Saleh Al-Hams, the nursing director at the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis.

"The prisoners are in a state of severe emaciation, with some unable to walk due to the intense beatings and torture they have endured," Hams said.

He added that "most of the prisoners suffer from skin diseases, and one case was admitted to the hospital overnight due to lung fibrosis."

The health official noted that among the freed were 15 health staffers, who were taken into custody from hospitals in the course of the Israeli war on Gaza.

According to Hamas, 11 of those released to the Gaza Strip were prisoners serving life or long-term sentences who had been arrested before Oct. 7, 2023, while the others were detained by the Israeli army in Gaza after that.

Hamas added that 97 prisoners – serving life or long-term sentences – were also deported to Egypt.

Amani Sarahneh from the Palestinian Prisoners Society told Anadolu that the Israeli authorities have blocked the release of 46 children and women prisoners.

She added that the Israeli authorities are delaying their release until full verification of the bodies received from Gaza.

With the transfer of the four more bodies late on Wednesday, Hamas completed the release of 33 Israelis, including eight bodies, under the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire that ends this weekend.

Israeli figures estimate that 59 Israelis are still held in Gaza with at least 20 of them alive, who are supposed to be set free in the second phase of the ceasefire, which would require Israel to fully withdraw its forces and end the war permanently.

The six-week pause in the Israeli war, which has claimed more than 48,300 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins, began on Jan. 19.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants 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.