Palestinian prisoners released in hostage-prisoner exchange – Israel News

Ninety Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for the three Israeli hostages – Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari – released from Hamas captivity on Sunday, the Israel Prison Service announced in the early hours of Monday.

The Palestinian prisoners had been transferred from various prisons across the country to the Ofer Prison in the vicinity of Jerusalem. There, they underwent security and identity checks in addition to medical examinations before being subsequently released. 

Red Cross buses transferred 78 prisoners to the Bitunya checkpoint in the West Bank ahead of their release there, while Israeli police were set to oversee the transfer of 12 prisoners to east Jerusalem. 

Red Cross posing difficulty, Israeli official says

Earlier, an Israeli official was cited by Israeli media as saying that the Red Cross was posing difficulties in the transfer of the Palestinian prisoners.

“Red Cross personnel, for unclear reasons, are stalling and delaying the process of transferring Palestinian prisoners. They claim there are discrepancies in the lists, and it seems they want to portray Israel as failing to meet the agreed-upon timelines,” an official was quoted as saying by Channel 12. 

Most of the prisoners on the list were women. Only one prisoner under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest had been convicted of murder, Ynet reported.

Footage circulating on social media showed Palestinians marking the return of the prisoners in Bitunya by waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags and firing fireworks. 

Joanie Margulies contributed to this report.