39 Palestinians released under hostage deal return home

GHAZA:  Prison authorities in Israel announced that they have released 39 Palestinian detainees, after Hamas freed 13 hostages under a temporary truce agreement.

The freed Palestinian prisoners are all women and people under the age of 19, while the hostages released by Hamas are all women and children. Celebrations in East Jerusalem welcoming the released Palestinian prisoners were muted, amid heavy Israeli police presence.

The most prominent Palestinian released is Israa Jaabis, 37, who was convicted of detonating a gas cylinder in her car at a checkpoint in 2015, wounding a police officer. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

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In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, crowds celebrated and chanted slogans praising Hamas for its role in the agreement. On the other hand, tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as a temporary truce largely held in the besieged strip.

It was the latest large pro-Palestinian demonstration in the British capital since the unprecedented Oct 7 events. “The occupation needs to end. We need a full ceasefire and not a four-day ceasefire,” Alaa Hassan, a 24-year-old wellbeing practitioner, said.

The demonstrators waved pro-Palestinian banners and chanted slogans as they walked through central London to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. – INP