Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners Saturday in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, which is part of a fragile ceasefire deal. It comes on the heels of Hamas freeing three more Israeli hostages earlier in the day.
This is the fifth exchange since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last month. It comes amid the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump continuing to promote his plan to take ownership of the Gaza Strip.
Eighteen of those released Saturday had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and 54 were serving long sentences for what Israel says was their involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Some have been in jail for two decades. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, whistling crowds greeted the released prisoners as heroes, waving flags and chanting support for Hamas.
Some of the released men fell to their knees after getting off the bus, crying and kissing the ground. Emotional relatives were there to greet them before they returned to their homes in the West Bank.
“We've been waiting. And waiting is the most painful thing, it wears on the nerves,” said Samah Abu Aliya, whose 34-year-old son, Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving 4½ years for his affiliation with Hamas.
The United States, Britain and other Western nations designate Hamas as a terror group.
Seven of those convicted of the most serious crimes were transferred to Egypt. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, they either will stay in that country or be deported elsewhere.
Additionally, among those released were 111 Palestinians from Gaza who were captured after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on southern Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza. They were detained without trial, and the Red Cross brought them to the European Hospital in Gaza's southern town of Khan Younis, where scores of people poured into the streets in celebration.
Of the Israeli hostages, 52-year-old Eli Sharabi and 56-year-old Ohad Ben Ami were taken from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm, while Or Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas terror attack.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, set to last six weeks, Hamas is to gradually free 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. So far, 13 Israeli hostages and five Thai workers abducted during the Hamas attack have been freed in exchange for some 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
The exchange Saturday follows Trump’s proposal to clear Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants and for the U.S. to take ownership of the territory. Trump told reporters Friday at the White House before a meeting with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba his plan should be viewed as a real estate transaction but offered no timetable for the plan, saying “we’re in no rush on it.”
Responding to a question about his Gaza proposal, Trump said his plan has been "very well received," and as he envisioned it, there would be no need for the United States to have "boots on the ground" in the region because Israel would provide security.
Trump first announced his Gaza takeover plan earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a White House news conference. Trump later offered more on the plan on his Truth Social platform, suggesting Israel should turn the Gaza Strip over to the United States after the war with Hamas ends.
Under his plan, he said, the more than 2 million Palestinians who live there "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities."
In a video statement Thursday, during his visit to Washington, Netanyahu praised the plan, saying it was worth listening to and "the first original idea to be raised in years."
The plan has been widely assailed by U.S. allies and adversaries alike, many of whom remain committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, known as the "two-state solution."
A large street protest was held in Amman, Jordan, on Friday in opposition to the plan. At the demonstration, organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition parties, marchers carried posters and a banner condemning Trump and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called Trump’s idea a "bold plan" and said he has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to devise a plan for Palestinians to voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip, adding they could go "to any country willing to accept them."
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.