By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta
CAIRO/Ramallah (Reuters) – Thousands of Palestinians chanted for Hamas on Saturday as they welcomed prisoners freed under a ceasefire deal between the militant group and Israel that saw four Israeli prisoners also return home.
In Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, many carried freed prisoners on their shoulders as excited crowds waited for hours for buses carrying the prisoners to arrive.
Others waved Palestinian flags or the flags of Palestinian groups including Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, its ally Iran-backed Islamic Jihad, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.
Inside the Gaza European Hospital in the south of the enclave, where the 16 freed prisoners arrived to be examined by a doctor, thousands flocked to welcome them, chanting Allah Akbar saying “God is great” and “Greetings to the Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas).
Ikhlas Balousha, a Gazan woman, said her brother's release brought her joy despite what she described as destruction, suffering, hunger and killings in the enclave.
“The feeling of dignity, the joy, the feeling of victory despite the pain – a moment where you can be a martyr, but thank God, the Lord of the World, who allowed us to see him,” he told Reuters.
The 200 Palestinians freed on Saturday included soldiers, some serving life sentences for their involvement in the deadly attack, according to a list published by Hamas.
THE WAVES ARE WAITING TO COME HOME TODAY
Some were released from the West Bank, while others returned to Gaza now in ruins after 15 months of war. The Israelites who were considered the most dangerous were taken to Egypt before being exiled to a third country.
“I had no doubt that I would be released one day. I was sure of that,” said Mohammad Al-Arda, sentenced to life in prison and 15 years for his membership in Islamic Jihad. He was arrested again in 2021 after digging his way out of prison using an improvised tunnel with three other prisoners.
“We were isolated, under stress and pain. I swear to God that when I saw the happiness of my people I was happy too, a happiness that cannot be described in words,” he said, after returning to Ramallah.
Israel says those convicted of killing Israelis will not be allowed to return home. About 70 will be deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said, and from there to another country, Turkey, Qatar or Algeria. Palestinians call the prisoners “heroes” and “freedom fighters.”
Naser Dawoud, a Hamas militant who spent 21 years in prison serving two life sentences for participating in Israeli attacks, said he did not believe his name was among those to be released.
“I am human and sentenced for life, I did not expect this to happen, there have been attempts before, but this time God blessed us,” he told Reuters.
In the Gaza Strip, medical staff at the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis began monitoring the health of newly released prisoners.
In a statement after the release of the Israeli hostages, Hamas said it had safeguarded the hostages' welfare while “the enemy is trying to kill them (the hostages).”
Some of the released prisoners from northern Gaza will have to stay in the south of the enclave for some time until Israel allows hundreds of thousands of Gazans to return home, under a ceasefire agreement.
Hamas said it expects Israel to honor the agreement by quickly withdrawing troops from the roads separating the north and south of the enclave to allow about 650,000 people to return to their homes in the northern areas.
Eyewitnesses said there was a traffic jam on the road to the north, which was blocked by Israeli soldiers who opened fire.
Doctors said one person was killed there by suspected Israeli fire, one of the few deaths reported since it began. Two others were injured.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that in the middle of the Gaza Strip, IDF forces identified several gatherings of suspects posing a threat and the forces fired warning shots to address the threat. It said that at the moment there was no damage done to the suspects as a result of the shooting.