Joy Roams Palestine After 39 Prisoners Freed from Israeli Prisons

By Al Mayadeen English

24 Nov 2023 22:58

Freed Palestinian prisoners express their gratitude for the Resistance after their release from Israeli occupation prisons in a prisoner swap deal.

The Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Resistance factions in Gaza have freed 39 female and underage male prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons, as part of the first batch of the truce agreement and the prisoner exchange deal, which began today and will continue for four days.

A four-day humanitarian truce went into effect in Gaza at 7 am (GMT+2) Friday after a deal was reached between the Israeli occupation and Hamas on the matter following an Israeli aggression that has persisted for 47 days, leaving tens of thousands injured, killed, and displaced.

Earlier, Israeli media outlets reported that the first batch of Israeli captives who were held by the Palestinian Resistance crossed the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, after being received earlier by the Red Crescent at the Khan Yunis Hospital in the Gaza Strip, which transferred them to the Palestinian-Egyptian borders.

According to news outlets, 24 captives were released, and "all of them are in relatively good condition."

The freed Palestinian female prisoners and child prisoners from the "Ofer" Prison arrived in the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, amidst a massive popular reception for them. The freed prisoners chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian Resistance and Gaza and raised victory signs.

In the same context, the Gaza Strip witnessed enthusiastic celebrations after the release of the first batch of prisoners of the prisoner exchange deal. In Jenin and its camp, mosques echoed Takbir (glorification of God) in celebration of the prisoners' release.

In her first statement after being freed, liberated prisoner Marah Bakir, from occupied al-Quds, said, "The feeling of freedom, in exchange for the blood of martyrs in the Gaza Strip and in the face of the great sacrifices of my people there, is very difficult."

Social media users shared the moment freed prisoner Malak Suleiman met with her family. Suleiman is from the town of Beit Safafa in occupied al-Quds. She was arrested on February 9, 2016, while in the Bab al-Amoud area of the Old City, carrying her school bag, and was subjected to beating and abuse at that time.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to nine years.

On her part, freed prisoner Sara Abdullah thanked the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza, saying, "I am proud of Hamas, and I love Gaza very much, and I am proud of Mohammed al-Deif and [Yahya] Sinwar because they are the only ones who stood by us."

Immediately after their release, underage male prisoners performed a prostration of gratitude to God.

In the same context, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that it transported a 17-year-old freed prisoner to the Ramallah Medical Complex after being attacked by Israeli occupation forces.

It is noteworthy that in an attempt to kill the Palestinian people's joy, the Israeli occupation has ordered that no celebrations be held at the freed prisoners' residences.

Senior Hamas official Zaher Jabarin affirmed that the humanitarian truce agreement would not have been possible without the steadfastness of the patient people in the Gaza Strip and its thwarting of the displacement conspiracy, and without the heroism of the Resistance that forced the neo-Nazis to comply with its conditions.

Elsewhere, Omar Nazzal, the head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, said that the "joy of victory is prevalent in Beitunia despite the feelings of pain over the martyrs" in Gaza.