Buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners arrive in Ramallah and Gaza

Israel released Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison toward Ramallah and from Ketziot toward the Gaza Strip.

Buses carrying 88 Palestinian prisoners released from Ofer arrived in the town of Beitunia, where they will be received at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, and the first of 38 buses transporting Palestinian prisoners to the Gaza Strip also arrived.

Palestinian official bodies and prisoners’ organizations said they received the buses carrying the released prisoners from the International Committee of the Red Cross and are escorting them to the Ramallah Cultural Palace.

Under the first phase of the plan, all Israeli captives believed to be alive in the Gaza Strip would be released in exchange for Israeli authorities freeing 250 prisoners serving long or life sentences — 88 from Ofer west of Ramallah and 162 from Ketziot in the Negev. They will be moved to the Gaza Strip before the majority are transferred to Egypt, in addition to 1,718 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the start of the war on October 7, 2023.