Basil Farraj, an assistant professor at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank and an expert on political prisoners, has told Al Jazeera that he expects a delay by the Israeli authorities in releasing the Palestinian prisoners slated to be discharged from Ofer Prison later today.

“I expect them to be brutalised. I expect the violence and torture they [will have] been subjected to since their arrest will continue until the last moment of the liberation,” he said.

He noted during a previous exchange that a prisoner’s ribs had been broken while they waited to be handed to the Red Cross.

Farraj said the families of prisoners waiting to be released will be “anxiously waiting”, especially since many of them are serving long sentences.

“So, I expect a lot of emotions, a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, but also this joy to see Palestinian prisoners being released,” he said.