Israel to free 1,904 prisoners for 33 hostages; Egypt on standby
Israel has announced the release of 1,904 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. In return, Hamas is expected to release 33 of the 98 Israeli hostages it is holding. The deal is part of a six-week ceasefire brokered between the two sides.
The released Palestinians include 1,167 Gaza prisoners who were not involved in the 7 October attacks. Most are believed to be Hamas fighters captured during the 15-month conflict.
The remaining 737 prisoners are from Israeli jails, including those convicted of minor offences such as throwing stones or crossing the border illegally. However, some in this group were imprisoned for serious crimes, including murder. Among them is Zakaria Zubeidi, a leader of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, who previously escaped from a high-security prison in 2021.
Notably absent from the release list is Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Fatah leader serving a life sentence for multiple murders. Barghouti, considered a key figure in the second Palestinian intifada, remains in prison.
Egypt standby
Meanwhile, Egypt is preparing to provide medical assistance to injured Palestinians during the truce. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt's health minister, visited the Rafah border crossing, the only entry point into Gaza not controlled by Israel. The crossing, which has been closed since May 2022, is being prepared to reopen for humanitarian aid and patient transfers.
More than 600 aid trucks are currently stationed on the Egyptian side of Rafah, waiting for the green light to deliver essential supplies to Gaza. The Qatar-brokered ceasefire is due to begin at 8.30am local time on Sunday.
Relatives mourn over the bodies of four members of the Palestinian al-Qadra family (parents and their two children) killed in an Israeli strike that hit their tent north of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, in the yard of the Nasser hospital on January 18, 2025, a day before the expected implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. © BASHAR TALEB / AFP
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