Israel has released 110 Palestinian prisoners after a temporary delay ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even as Hamas had released eight captives in the third phase of the prisoner swap.
The prisoners released on Thursday evening included 30 minors, 32 Palestinians who had received life sentences, and 48 others who were serving prison terms of different duration.
Most of them reunited with their families in the occupied West Bank, while 23 of them were sent to Egypt. The prisoners released on Thursday were all men, aged 15 to 69.
The released inmates transported by Red Cross buses to both Palestinian territories were greeted with cheers by thousands of joyful Palestinians.
Zakaria Zubeidi, Mohammed Abu Warda and Mohammed Aradeh were among the high-profile Palestinians released on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Hamas released three Israeli captives, a female soldier and two settlers, plus five Thai nationals, fulfilling its part of the third phase of the prisoner swap, paving the way for Israel to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, as scheduled.
However, Netanyahu said in a statement that he had ordered a halt to the release of Palestinians until further notice, claiming that the handover of eight captives had been conducted in a “chaotic” condition.
The Israeli premier said the exchange would be delayed until mediators secured guarantees from Hamas of “the safe exit of our hostages in the next rounds.”
Surrounded by masked Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, the captives made their way through large Palestinian crowds toward the Red Cross vehicles on Thursday without any incident.
Also a day after a second exchange of Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza.
Israel said then Hamas had failed to free a captive who it claimed should have been released, but Hamas denied such an arrangement had ever been agreed.
The holdup left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians stranded behind an Israeli military barrier for two days before being allowed to head to their homes.
Israeli forces fired on the crowds on three occasions, killing two people and wounding nine, including a child, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties.
Israel has pulled back from several areas of Gaza as part of the ceasefire, which came into effect last Sunday.
The ceasefire is aimed at ending the 15-month Israeli war on Gaza and freeing captives still held in Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Over six weeks, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives – about one-third of those in captivity – in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group, of the Palestinian prisoners to be released Thursday, 32 had received life sentences, and 48 were serving prison terms of different duration.
In the last two exchanges, Hamas released seven Israeli captives in return for 290 prisoners, nearly all of whom were Palestinians, except for one Jordanian.
A fourth exchange scheduled for Saturday will involve the release of three Israeli men, according to Netanyahu’s office.
