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What we know about Palestinians imprisoned by Israel as further 42 to be released
CGTN
Europe;Europe
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Israel is to release a further 42 prisoners on Saturday – but here's what we know about the Palestinians and their crimes.

A four-day truce started on Friday after seven weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas with 39 jailed Palestinians allowed to return home – three for each hostage freed. And now 14 more hostages are going back to Israel along with the further Palestinian prisoner releases.

There are believed to have been 17 children who were released from Israeli prisons, while the other 22 freed on Friday were women. They were gathered at Israel's Ofer military jail, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and handed over to the iInternational Committee of the Red Cross before going home.

Some headed back to Jerusalem and those who were from the West Bank went to Betunia Municipal Council.

Many Palestinians are anxiously waiting for information on whether their family members will be released. Yusif and Fida Abu Maria said they are listening to the news and hopeful that their son Ubay is freed.

"We are monitoring the news, following up by the second, and waiting for the moment of traveling (to go pick up Ubay), the moment when he is released from prison," sais Yusif. "Same as we heard yesterday and the day before – there is no proof until now between yes and no. But hopefully, and as we were told 'Your son is within the deal' and among the first names along with two other youngsters from Beit Ummar, in the first group (to be released) while we await the news."

Sawsan Bkeer – the mother of 24-year-old Palestinian prisoner Marah Bkeer, jailed for eight years on knife and assault charges in 2015 – said that there was little celebration after she was freed. She stated: "There is no real joy, even this little joy we feel as we wait." Israeli police were seen raiding her Jerusalem home before her daughter was released. She added: "We are still afraid to feel happy and at the same time, we do not have it in us to be happy due to what is happening in Gaza."

Released Palestinian prisoners wave flags as they leave the Israeli Ofer military prison. /Ammar Awad/Reuters
Released Palestinian prisoners wave flags as they leave the Israeli Ofer military prison. /Ammar Awad/Reuters

Released Palestinian prisoners wave flags as they leave the Israeli Ofer military prison. /Ammar Awad/Reuters

While much of the focus has been on the dire situation in Gaza with the desperate humanitarian situation brought about by missile raids, there has also been rising tension in the West Bank following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7.

There are around three million Palestinians in the West Bank, who live alongside half a million Israelis settlers. Palestinian detainees and officials say Israel has conducted mass arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and that prisoners were increasingly facing physical assaults and humiliating treatment in Israeli detention facilities.

Amnesty International said this month that Israel had dramatically increased its use of administrative detention, a form of incarceration without charge or trial. The Israeli military has said it operates in the West Bank against suspects involved in militant activity.

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The number of Palestinians held by Israel has risen to more than 7,800, including some 300 children and 72 women, said Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority Commission for Prisoners' Affairs. He said the number did not include prisoners from Gaza, which he said Israel refuses to disclose.

There have been around 3,000 Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank who have been arrested since October 7, including 145 children and 37 journalists.

Palestinians can be imprisoned for a variety of crimes from threatening security and supporting terrorism to throwing stones and entering Israel without a permit.

"The main alleged crime for these detentions is stone-throwing, which can carry a 20-year sentence in prison for Palestinian children," said a report published in July by children's rights organization Save the Children.

When the truce was brought in, Israel released a list of 300 Palestinians who it said would be eligible for release which included 123 children – with the youngest aged 14.

What we know about Palestinians imprisoned by Israel as further 42 to be released

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Source(s): Reuters ,AFP

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