Palestinians await release of 90 prisoners after captives returned to Israel

Middle East Eye's Fayha Shalash is reporting that Palestinian families are eagerly awaiting on the release 90 prisoners from Israeli jails after Hamas began its handover of Israeli captives. 

The list of Palestinians to be freed includes women and children who have been held in Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah.

Under the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal, each female Israeli civilian captive will be exchanged for 30 Palestinian women and children.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has received the names of the 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released today. Of these, 78 are from the occupied West Bank and 12 are from Jerusalem.

However, Al Jazeera said it obtained information confirming that Sunday’s releases will include Khalida Jarrar, one of the most prominent leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). 

Jarrar, a Palestinian political leader and human rights and feminist advocate, has been held in administrative detention since December 2023. She has reportedly spent the past six months in solitary confinement in a 2-by-1.5m cell. 

Jarrar's sister, Salam Alratrot, previously told Middle East Eye that the prospect of the 61-year-old's release gave her hope that Jarrar would at least leave solitary confinement and end the harshest imprisonment she has ever endured.

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