Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in exchange for the four soldiers who were being held hostage by Hamas. Dozens of the prisoners had been serving life sentences in Israeli jails for attacks against Israelis.
The Israeli prison service said in a statement that the prisoners had been released from Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and from another facility near Beersheba in southern Israel.
The International Committee of the Red Cross transported some of the prisoners to their families, who awaited them at a local public building. Red Cross officials were expected to bring others to the Egyptian border.
More than 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel are due to be released as part of the first stage of the cease-fire and hostage-release agreement. Hamas has pledged to release 33 hostages; 97 were held in Gaza when the deal went into effect last Sunday, according to the Israeli authorities.
Last week, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors. This time, the Israeli authorities are freeing many people who were convicted of much heavier offenses, including the murder of Israeli civilians in militant attacks.
About 120 of the Palestinian prisoners released on Saturday were serving life sentences for involvement in attacks against Israelis, according to lists provided by the Hamas-linked prisoners’ office. Under the terms of the agreement, about 70 will be expelled from Israeli-held territory to Hamas-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip or abroad to countries like Egypt.
Those being released on Saturday included Mohammad Odeh, Wael Qassim and Wissam Abbasi, who were arrested in 2002 for a string of deadly bombings targeting Israelis in crowded civilian areas. All three were serving life sentences for their involvement in the attacks.
One of the group’s most infamous attacks — which took place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem — killed nine people, including five Americans.
The three men are all slated to be exiled abroad and will never be allowed to return to their homes in Jerusalem, according to the terms of the agreement.
