Israel releases 183 Palestinians including aid worker Mohammed el-Halabi as part of ceasefire deal

This concluded the fourth prisoner-for-hostage swap in the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian prisoners as greeted as they exit a Red Cross bus after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025.
Palestinian prisoners as greeted as they exit a Red Cross bus after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025. (Photo| AP)
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The Israeli Prison Authority said that all 183 Palestinian prisoners slated for release on Saturday, as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, have been freed.

Most of them, including 111 arrested after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and held without trial, were released to Gaza. Just over two dozen returned to cheering crowds in the occupied West Bank. Another seven serving life sentences were transferred to Egypt ahead of their deportation.

One of the most prominent Palestinians being released on Saturday is aid worker Mohammed el-Halabi, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a high-profile case that drew criticism from rights groups.

El-Halabi had worked as the Palestinian manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision, a major Christian aid organization. He was arrested in 2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to Hamas. Both el-Halabi, 47, and World Vision vigorously denied the allegations and independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing.

Rights groups say el-Halabi was denied a fair and transparent trial, as he and World Vision had no chance to review the evidence against them. His prolonged detention sent a chill through nongovernmental groups providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Three Israeli hostages were also released by Hamas earlier today.

This concluded the fourth prisoner-for-hostage swap in the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The six-week phase one truce calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, as well as the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory.

Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely.

Israel's government, amid pressure from its far-right and extremist ministers and other groups, is likely to not agree for a permanent ceasefire, thereby posing the threat of resuming its "genocidal" war on Gaza.

The war, termed by many including UN experts and human rights organisations as a "genocide," has killed over 46,913 Palestinians including more than 18,000 children, over a thousand healthcare workers and over 200 journalists.

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