Joy as 1st group of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel

-39 Palestinians released from Israeli jails as part of humanitarian pause deal between Israel, Hamas

By Qais Abu Samra and Abdel Jabbar Aburas

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The first group of Palestinian detainees was released Friday from Israeli jails as part of a humanitarian pause deal between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The four-day pause includes the exchange of hostages and the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

The freed detainees included 24 women and 15 children.

“There is a great joy for liberating female prisoners by the Palestinian resistance,” Walaa Tanji, a freed detainee told Anadolu.

Tanji, from the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, appeared wearing the banner of the Islamic Jihad group and carrying a child in her arms.

She was arrested last year for allegedly plotting an attack against Israeli targets following the killing of resistance commander Ibrahim al-Nablusi by Israeli forces.

“Prisoners suffered abuses in Israeli jails since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict,” she said. “Conditions were extremely difficult. We lived days of hunger and thirst. We were beaten, sprayed with gas, and insulted.”

Rawan Abu Zeyada, another freed prisoner, demanded the release of all Palestinian women from Israeli jails.

“We left behind female prisoners who were not freed,” she told Anadolu.

Israel detained more than 3,000 Palestinians in military raids in the West Bank since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7. Around 5,200 were held in Israeli jails before the conflict.

Hanan al-Barghuthi thanked Palestinian resistance groups for freeing prisoners.

“Without the resistance, we would not have seen freedom,” al-Barghuthi told Anadolu.

"Our freedom and pride are held high in the presence of the resistance,” she said. “Had it not been for the resistance, a prisoner would not have been released."

Israel launched a massive military campaign against the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas last month,

It has since killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The official Israeli death toll stands at 1,200.