Palestinian prisoners freed in truce deal

Palestinians flocked to the streets near Ramallah in the Israeli occupied West Bank to welcome Palestinian inmates who were freed from Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
A convoy of buses carrying freed Palestinian prisoners drove through the streets after leaving the Israeli military Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The release of the Palestinian prisoners was in exchange for the return of three Israeli hostages released by Hamas, the first of 33 of the nearly 100 remaining Israeli and foreign hostages to go free under phase one of the deal.
Those freed from Israeli prisons included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas.
The first phase of the truce in the 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip.
Mothers, fathers, siblings and friends had waited for hours in the cold to embrace their loved ones as part of the agreement.
Among those released was Shatha Jarabaa, 24, who was arrested over a social media post criticising the “brutality” of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
In Al Fawakeh square in Ramallah, hundreds of people chanted: “The people want the Al-Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas’s armed wing in Gaza. In the Palestinian Territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire was perceived as a victory for Hamas over Israel.
Three women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza, Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24 and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released and reunited with their mothers. Videos showed them in apparent good health though they are expected to spend a few days in hospital.
The first phase of the truce took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip.
Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory.