Thousands of Palestinians gathered in Ramallah on Monday to celebrate the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian political prisoners and detainees held by Israel. The release, part of a major prisoner-hostage exchange, includes people from both the occupied West Bank and Gaza, which has endured two years of devastating war.
Among those freed were 96 political prisoners, alongside the majority of Palestinians Israel detained from Gaza during the conflict.
The exchange follows an agreement that saw the return of 20 living and 28 deceased Israeli captives held in Gaza. Of the roughly 200 Israelis taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, 114 had already been released in earlier swaps in November 2023 and January 2025, in return for the release of 1,240 Palestinians.
However, past ceasefires tied to those swaps were short-lived, with Israel resuming arrests soon after and detaining hundreds more Palestinians—often without charge.
Who Has Been Released?
According to data obtained by Al Jazeera, 250 Palestinian political prisoners serving life or long-term sentences are being freed.
- 157 are affiliated with Fatah, the ruling party in parts of the West Bank.
- 65 belong to Hamas, and the remainder represent smaller political factions.
- All but nine of the prisoners are from the West Bank.
In addition, Israel is releasing 1,718 Palestinians who the United Nations says were forcibly disappeared during its two-year war on Gaza. Among them are five children under 18 and two women.
Many of those detained from Gaza were held in military camps, where rights groups documented widespread abuse, including severe beatings, medical neglect, starvation, and sexual violence.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, at least 77 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since October 7.
Who Is Not Being Released?
Despite this large-scale release, thousands remain imprisoned.
The Palestinian rights group Addameer reports that Israel’s total number of detainees has more than doubled since October 2023—from 5,200 to 11,100.
The vast majority are from the occupied West Bank, including 400 children.
Murad Jadallah, a researcher at Al-Haq, told Al Jazeera that Israel uses mass arrests as a tool of repression:
“Israel tries to destroy Palestinian society in different ways, and arresting children is one of the tools it uses to do so.”
Will Those Freed Stay Free?
Experts warn that freedom is often temporary.
“Israel has a long history of using incarceration as a political weapon,” said Tahani Mustafa of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
After a 2023 prisoner swap, 30 Palestinians were re-arrested within weeks.
“There’s no guarantee those being released now won’t be detained again,” Mustafa added.
Where Are the Released Prisoners Going?
Most of the freed Palestinians have already returned home.
However, 154 of the 250 high-level prisoners are being deported to third countries rather than allowed to return to the occupied territories. According to WAFA, they were first transferred to Egypt, though their final destinations remain undisclosed.
Israel is reportedly delaying the release of some captives until it retrieves the bodies of 28 deceased Israeli hostages, expected within the next 72 hours. Hamas has said locating all the bodies could take time.
Crowds gathered in Khan Younis, Gaza, to welcome home Palestinians—many of them civilians and medical workers—who had been missing for months or years.
Restrictions on Celebrations
Despite the joy surrounding the releases, families in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were warned not to celebrate publicly or raise Palestinian flags.
Relatives of deported prisoners are also barred from travelling abroad to reunite with them.
Human rights advocates say that while the prisoner swap brings relief to thousands, many Palestinians remain focused on ending Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Jadallah of Al-Haq said:
“Palestinians hope this exchange marks the beginning of a permanent end to the war.”
Yet disappointment lingers that prominent figures like Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat were excluded from the deal.
Also missing from the released list is Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, a well-known physician abducted from Kamel Adwan Hospital in December 2024. Human rights monitors report he remains in solitary confinement and subject to torture.
A Fragile Step Toward Relief
For now, families across the Palestinian territories are cautiously celebrating — aware that history shows freedom may not last long, and the shadow of re-arrest still looms over many of those released.
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