Ramallah, Feb 15 (IANS): The Israeli authorities on Saturday released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from its jails as part of the sixth batch of prisoner-for-hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas.
Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, told Xinhua news agency that among the freed prisoners were 36 serving life sentences, and 333 detainees who had been arrested by Israel from the Gaza Strip following the October 7, 2023 attack.
Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said that the prisoners were received in the courtyard of the Ramallah Cultural Palace in the presence of the Red Cross and their families.
Before the release of the prisoners, eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces stormed the city of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, to prevent Palestinians from assembling near the gate of Ofer prison, where the prisoners were being freed.
Earlier on Saturday, the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad released three Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The Israeli authorities have confirmed their arrival in Israel.
The freed hostages -- Alexandre Sasha Troufanov, a 29-year-old Israeli-Russian citizen; Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 36-year-old Israeli-American citizen; and Iair Horn, a 46-year-old Israeli-Argentine citizen -- were kidnapped in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Troufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother, and partner, and the three women were released in a previous hostage deal in November 2023. His father was killed on the day of the kidnapping.
Dekel-Chen, a father of three, had a daughter born after his abduction. Horn's brother, Eitan, remains in captivity in Gaza.
"Thanks to the concentration of our forces in and around the Gaza Strip, and thanks to the clear and unequivocal statement of US President Donald Trump, Hamas has withdrawn and the release of the hostages continues," said a statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump warned on Monday that if "all of the hostages" in Gaza were not freed by noon on Saturday, the truce would be called off, and he would "let hell break out."
Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, effective since January 19 and spanning six weeks, 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians. So far, 19 Israeli hostages, along with five Thais, have been released.