Source Credit: AL JAZEERA
Jerusalem: Israel has stopped the release of 46 Palestinian prisoners—including 24 children—even after verifying the bodies of four Israeli hostages that were handed over by Hamas as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
According to reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry and Government Media Office, with exchanges taking place in multiple locations: 456 Palestinian prisoners have been delivered to Gaza, 97 deported to Egypt, 37 arriving in the West Bank, and five in occupied East Jerusalem.
Under the terms of a deal brokered by mediators, Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli captives, while Israel was set to release 46 Palestinian prisoners. Despite the verified handover of the captives' remains, Israeli authorities have halted the release of these prisoners. In the meantime, Gaza hospitals have reported treating 17 Palestinians killed and 19 injured in the past 48 hours, even as the ceasefire remains in effect.
The current prisoner exchange is part of the broader context of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was initiated following 15 months of intense conflict that began after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed 48,365 Palestinian deaths and 111,780 wounded during the conflict, while the Government Media Office has updated its death toll to at least 61,709, with thousands of Palestinians missing under rubble presumed dead. In Israel, the October 7 attacks resulted in at least 1,139 deaths and over 200 captives. Despite these alarming figures, the weak ceasefire is under strain as further violence continues to impact the region.
