[News] Dozens of Palestinians released from Israeli jails in fifth prisoner exchange

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Dozens of Palestinians released from Israeli jails in fifth
prisoner exchange

Many Palestinians freed under the ceasefire agreement for Gaza have been
rushed to medical facilities, showing signs of starvation and torture
inflicted by their Israeli captors

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

FEB 8, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/dozens-of-palestinians-released-from-israeli-jails-in-fifth-prisoner-exchange
(Photo credit: AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli authorities released 183 Palestinian prisoners on 8 February, while
Hamas released three Israeli captives from Gaza. The exchange completed the
fifth round of prisoner releases as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement
reached last month between Hamas and Israel.

WAFA news agency reports <https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/154434>
that the released Palestinian prisoners include 18 individuals serving life
sentences, 54 others with long-term sentences, and 111 detainees from Gaza
detained after the start of the war on 7 October 2023.

The Palestinian Prisoner's Society reported that 42 of the prisoners
released are from the occupied West Bank, three are from occupied
Jerusalem, and 27 are from Gaza.

Additionally, seven prisoners serving life sentences were deported outside
of Palestine, including Ahmed Atiyah Jaafari, Abdel Azim Hassan, Imad Abu
Ajamiya, Falah Shehada, Montaser Abu Ghalion, Mansour Abu Aoun, and Youssef
Iskafi.

As Palestinian prisoners were released from Ofer Prison near Ramallah,
Israeli forces blocked families from gathering to welcome their loved ones
and fired live ammunition and tear gas at them.

Hundreds of Palestinians and relatives of the released prisoners gathered
early in the morning at the Mahmoud Darwish Museum in Ramallah to greet the
freed detainees, waving Palestinian flags in celebration of their release,
WAFA added.

*Al-Jazeera* reports
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/2/7/live-3-israelis-183-palestinians-to-be-freed-in-latest-gaza-truce-swap>
that seven released Palestinians were immediately transferred to the
hospital for immediate treatment, as others described horrific conditions
in Israeli jails.

Palestinian prisoners are often tortured and raped in Israeli prisons and
detention centers.

Hamas released three captives abducted by resistance fighters during the 7
October attack on Israeli settlements and military bases enforcing the
siege on Gaza.

The captives were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri and the Nova music festival.
Israel deployed
<https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/what-really-happened-on-october-7/?feed_id=11264&_unique_id=65d3514b9b6fe>
attack helicopters, drones, and tanks to the kibbutzim (settlements) and
Nova festival, killing hundreds of Palestinian resistance fighters as well
as Israeli civilians and soldiers, per the Hannibal Directive.

The released Israeli captives include Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and
Ohad Ben Ami, 56.

Hamas set up a stage for the handover to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah in
central Gaza. The stage was decorated with a sign declaring “total
victory,” the slogan used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throughout
the war, the *Times of Israel* wrote
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaunt-and-frail-hostages-eli-sharabi-or-levy-and-ohad-ben-ami-freed-after-16-months/>
.

Deir al-Balah is one of the few areas in the Strip where the Israeli army
had not intensively operated with ground forces. Unlike other areas of
Gaza, most of the buildings in Deir al-Balah are standing, the *Times of
Israel* noted.

The Red Cross transferred the freed captives to members of the Israeli Army
and Shin Bet inside Gaza, after which they were escorted out of the Strip
to a military facility near the border to reunite with family members.
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