War in the Middle East
Celebrations for Palestinians released from Israel’s prisons
Former Palestinian prisoners pray upon arrival in the West Bank city of Beitunia. photo
© Nasser Nasser/AP
There is relief in Israel over the release of hostages. The Palestinian prisoners released in return are also cheered – with Hamas flags, as videos show.
According to a media report, the 39 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons are on their return West Bank and East Jerusalem were greeted with cheers. A video linked by the newspaper “The Times of Israel” on Sunday night shows crowds of people chanting and the green flags of the Islamist Hamas being held up.
According to Palestinian media, those released include six women and 33 male youths under the age of 19. They were released on Saturday evening as part of an agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas.
The released prisoners had all been convicted or charged with terrorist crimes, said Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman on Sunday night. The fact that the freed people were celebrated under the flags of Hamas shows what kind of people they are. “It’s a shame that we are releasing them,” said the army spokesman. The Emirate of Qatar, together with Egypt and the USA, had brokered a four-day ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas and the exchange of 50 civilian hostages for the Palestinian prisoners.
Dozens were waiting for the prisoners to be released
On Saturday evening, dozens waited for release outside an Israeli prison north of Jerusalem. According to Palestinian information, Israeli soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets against those waiting. According to paramedics, four people were injured. Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has ordered celebrations for the freedmen to be prevented, the Times of Israel reported.
According to the newspaper, among those released is a 38-year-old who exploded a gas bottle in her car at a checkpoint in the West Bank in 2015, injuring a police officer. She was sentenced to eleven years in prison. Other released Palestinians were imprisoned for, among other things, knife attacks or terrorist attacks with vehicles, said army spokesman Spielman. They are all criminals.