HEBRON, January 25, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces Saturday evening stormed the houses of two newly-released prisoners in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to local sources.
They said that the occupying forces, escorting a bulldozer, barged their way into the vicinity of Ibn Rushed Circle in Hebron and forced local storeowners to close their businesses simultaneously while opening gunfire.
The forces afterwards broke into the houses of Mashhur al-Rajabi and Ahmad Yaqin al-Ja‘bari, both released as part of the second batch under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and threatened to rearrest them should public celebrations be held to welcome them.
The occupation forces have threatened to carry out reprisals against prisoners’ families as a means to prevent any "public displays of joy”.
Four Israeli female soldiers were released to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, while Israel followed by releasing 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Three buses carrying 114 Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah, where crowds of Palestinians lined the streets to welcome them.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said that among those released were Mohammed al-Tous, 69, who has spent the longest continuous period in Israeli detention, and Mohammad Arda, one of the six prisoners who briefly escaped from the high-security Gilboa prison in 2021.
Meanwhile, 16 prisoners have been transferred to the Gaza Strip, while 70 others - including Palestinians serving life sentences and long-term prison terms - have been released into Egypt.
According to the terms of the agreement, Israel is expected to free 50 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli female soldier released.
Saturday's scheduled exchange marked the second swap since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January. During the first exchange, three Israeli female civilians were released in return for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel’s 15-month genocidal aggression on Gaza killed at least 47,283 Palestinians and injured over 111,472 others.
Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
K.F.
