Freed but exiled: Seventy Palestinian prisoners reach Cairo

The head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Qadoura Fares, announced that 70 Palestinian prisoners exiled as part of a prisoner exchange deal in Gaza entered Egyptian territory.

Fares told Anadolu that all the prisoners are men with life sentences or long-term sentences, and travel documents are currently being prepared for them.

He noted that "the prisoners will be accommodated in a Cairo hotel for a few days, where they will receive all necessary services, and a small ceremony will be organised to honour them before determining their final destinations," said Fares.

"It is expected that the prisoners will be relocated to several countries, and the details will be clarified once arrangements are completed," he said.

"Egypt received the prisoners, who travelled to Cairo in two buses. All necessary arrangements, security, and logistical measures are currently being carried out during their temporary stay in Cairo, in preparation for their transfer to their next destinations."

The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, earlier Saturday handed over four female Israeli soldiers under a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel. Some 200 Palestinian prisoners were also released.

Televised footage showed the arrival of 114 prisoners in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah from the Ofer Military Prison aboard three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) buses.

Warm welcome

Sixteen prisoners, accompanied by Red Cross representatives, also arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, to the warm welcome of thousands.

Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel reported that two buses carrying 70 freed Palestinian prisoners arrived in Egypt under the ceasefire agreement.

The Prisoners’ Media Office said early Saturday that the freed prisoners include 121 who had been serving life sentences and 79 with lengthy sentences.

It added that 70 of those serving life sentences will be sent outside the Palestinian territories.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel is now set to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor area that separates northern Gaza from its south, allowing displaced Palestinians to return to the north.

On day one of the ceasefire, Israel released 90 Palestinian detainees in return for three Israeli hostages set free by Hamas.

The three-phase ceasefire agreement includes a prisoner exchange and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of untold numbers of elderly people, women and children.