RAMALLAH, October 13, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities released the second batch of Palestinian prisoners from Ketziot Prison in the Negev to the Gaza Strip on Monday evening, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
WAFA correspondent said that 38 buses and 10 ambulances transported hundreds of recently released prisoners, who arrived at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.
They were received by their families and crowds of civilians. Many were taken to the hospital for medical examinations and treatment before returning home.
The batch includes 154 prisoners serving life sentences, who will be transferred from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. This is in addition to 1,718 detainees from the Gaza Strip who were detained on October 7, 2023.
Earlier today, the first batch of 96 prisoners was freed from Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, and received at the Ramallah Cultural Palace in Beitunia.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced this morning that it had received the 20 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in two batches and handed them over to the occupation authorities.
On September 9, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement to implement the first phase of his Middle East peace plan, which he announced on September 29. The plan calls for an end to the war on the Gaza Strip, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Strip, the entry of humanitarian aid, and a prisoner exchange.
According to prisoners' organizations, the number of detainees held inside Israeli jails exceeds 11,000, suffering from catastrophic and dire conditions, including torture, starvation, and systematic medical neglect, which has led to the deaths of several detainees.
The total number of Palestinian detainees sentenced to life imprisonment has reached 350, and 40 detainees have been indicted pending life sentences. There are 53 female prisoners, including three from Gaza, along with two minors.
Approximately 400 child prisoners are held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons, while the number of detainees held without trial has reached approximately 3,380 as of October.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli forces have committed genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the killing of more than 67,806 people, the injury of more than 170,000 others, most of them children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 463 Palestinians, including 157 children.
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