Joyous crowds greet Palestinians released by Israel in ceasefire deal

"Israeli authorities on Monday released hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners under a Trump administration-brokered ceasefire plan, the vast majority Gaza residents swept up by the Israeli military over the last two years but not charged with any crimes. The releases stirred joy and relief in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, hours after Israel celebrated the return of hostages held by Hamas. Prisoners transferred from Israeli jails emerged into a crush of well-wishers in Ramallah, in the West Bank, early in the day."

"In emotional scenes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, later, several dozen buses carrying the detainees inched forward gingerly as a crowd of thousands thronged around. The roughly 1,700 detainees from Gaza who returned there Monday are among thousands of people from the enclave the Israeli military seized during the war, their families left for months or longer with little notion of their whereabouts, or in some cases, any idea whether they were still alive."

"Those released Monday also included 250 Palestinians, most of them militants belonging to Hamas or the West Bank-based Fatah party, serving long terms in Israeli prisons on charges including murder. While some returned home to the West Bank, Jerusalem or Gaza, 154 of the prisoners were scheduled to be deported abroad. Israel, though, refused to release Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian leader who has been serving multiple life sentences after his conviction by an Israeli military court on murder charges in 2004."

Israeli authorities released hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan, most Gaza residents detained during the past two years without criminal charges. The releases produced joyful, emotional reunions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with crowds greeting detainees in Ramallah and thousands surrounding buses in Khan Younis. About 1,700 Gaza detainees returned, many whose families had lacked information about their whereabouts during the war. The group released included roughly 250 prisoners serving long terms on charges including murder; 154 of those were to be deported abroad. Israel refused to free Marwan Barghouti.

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