Status: 26.11.2023, 04:08 a.m.
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Former Palestinian prisoners pray upon arrival in the West Bank town of Beitunia. © Nasser Nasser/AP
In Israel, there is relief at the release of hostages. The Palestinian prisoners released in return are also cheered - with Hamas flags, as videos show.
Tel Aviv/Gaza - The 39 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons were greeted with cheers on their return to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to a media report. A video linked by the newspaper "The Times of Israel" on Sunday night shows chanting crowds of people and green flags of the Islamist Hamas held aloft underneath.
According to the Palestinian media, the released prisoners were 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 have all been convicted or charged with terrorist offenses, Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman said on Sunday night. The fact that the freedmen were celebrated under the banner of Hamas shows what kind of people they are. "It's a shame that we're releasing them," the army spokesman said. The Emirate of Qatar, together with Egypt and the United States, had brokered a four-day ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas and the exchange of 50 civilian hostages for the Palestinian prisoners.
Dozens waited for the release of the prisoners
On Saturday evening, dozens had been waiting for their release outside an Israeli prison north of Jerusalem. According to Palestinian sources, 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 to prevent celebrations for the released, the Times of Israel reported.
According to the newspaper, among those released is a 38-year-old woman who exploded a gas cylinder 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 have been imprisoned for knife attacks or terrorist attacks with vehicles, among other things, said army spokesman Spielman. They are all criminals. Dpa