Watan-Today, Sunday, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, handed over three Israeli detainees to teams from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the first day of the ceasefire taking effect in Gaza. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office reported that the Palestinian female prisoners and detainees, who will be released in exchange for the three Israeli detainees, have arrived at Ofer Prison, located on the lands of Beitunia city, west of Ramallah, in the central West Bank.
Video footage showed hundreds of Al-Qassam Brigades members in full military uniform in Al-Saraya Square inside Gaza City, where the detainees were handed over to the ICRC teams amidst public chants supporting the resistance. The Israeli occupation army announced that the Red Cross informed them it had received the three detainees from Gaza.
Later, the Israeli occupation army and the Shin Bet issued a joint statement confirming the receipt of the three detainees from Gaza. According to the statement: “A special unit of the Israel Defense Forces and a Shin Bet team are escorting the three returning captives on their way to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical evaluation.”
As part of the agreement, 78 Palestinian prisoners are to be released to the West Bank and 12 to occupied East Jerusalem on the first day of the exchange. Israeli Channel 12 reported that 1,500 members of the Israeli Prison Service are participating in the operation.
On Saturday, Israeli Army Radio stated that the Prison Service had begun transporting Palestinian prisoners in “secure convoys” to the facilities from which they are expected to be released (on Sunday). However, the Walla news website noted: “Unlike the agreement of November 2023, the prisoners will be transported in Prison Service buses, not Red Cross buses, with tinted windows, to prevent public displays of joy.”
Palestinian prisoner organizations, along with national and Islamic forces, called on the Palestinian public and the families of detainees to participate in welcoming the released prisoners during the first batch of the exchange. The event is planned to take place near the Fruit Roundabout in Beitunia city, west of Ramallah, in the central West Bank. In recent days, the Israeli occupation army declared the area around Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, a closed military zone and prohibited Palestinians from parking their vehicles in the designated parking lot for cars and trucks in front of the prison and the Ofer commercial crossing.
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