Bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners arrives in Ramallah
International Desk
A bus carrying a group of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel under the Gaza ceasefire deal arrived to a cheering crowd in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.
A Hamas official told AFP the group had handed over the bodies of four hostages held in Gaza since its October 7, 2023 attack in exchange.
Wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves and jackets to cover their jail uniforms, the freed prisoners descended from the bus before a compact and jubilant crowd, then headed to a quick health checkup.
Young and old chanted "Allahu Akbar" and "the people want the (Hamas military wing) Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades", as Ramallah's governor Leila Ghannam saw them off the bus.
Several prisoners were hoisted in the air, some of them conducting interviews from the shoulders of friends or relatives.
A group of women broke in tears as they gathered around a released prisoner, and a child hoisted in the air made peace signs with both hands.
More than 600 Palestinians prisoners were to be released overnight between Wednesday and Thursday under a ceasefire deal, most of them in Gaza, according to Hamas officials.
This marks the final swap under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal that went into effect on January 19.
The deal provided for the release of 33 hostages, including the bodies of eight, by March 1, in exchange for 1,900 Palestinians held by Israel.
