Salfit: Israeli occupation forces Saturday evening stormed the family house of a recently released prisoner in the occupied West Bank city of Salfit over public displays of joy, according to local sources. The forces broke into the house of Said Musa Dhyab Shtayyeh, 43, who was released as part of the sixth batch of prisoners and exiled under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, forcing all relatives and visitors to leave at gunpoint.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, three Israeli captives were released to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday, with Israel subsequently commencing the release of 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees under the fragile ceasefire agreement. The first bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees departed from Israel's Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, arriving in Ramallah to a cheering crowd, some waving Palestinian flags.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported that some of the released Palestinian prisoners are in extremely poor health, with previous prisoners showing signs of severe torture, disease, and starvation. Shortly after, a convoy of buses carrying 333 prisoners freed from Israeli prisons arrived at the European Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, including several elderly prisoners, one of whom is 70 years old.
The PPS further stated that 24 of the released prisoners are expected to be deported, with nearly all of the remaining 345 being "prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after October 7". Among the released prisoners are 36 individuals serving life sentences, many having spent over 20 years in Israeli prisons.
Saturday's exchange marked the sixth swap since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January. Israel's 15-month aggression on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 48,239 Palestinians and injuries to over 111,676 others. Additionally, at least 10,000 people remain unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations report that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children. The Israeli aggression has also led to the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from across the Gaza Strip, with most displaced individuals forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, marking Palestine's largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
