As a bus carrying a handful of released Palestinian detainees arrived in Ramallah, the group got off the bus to cheers from hundreds congregated outside, with some of the released men — clad in green jackets and keffiyehs — hoisted aloft by the crowd.
Released prisoner Bilal Yassin, 42, told Reuters he had been in Israeli detention for 20 years. The West Bank native said he had faced oppression and poor conditions the entire time.
“Our sacrifices and imprisonment were not in vain,” Yassin said. “We had confidence in the [Palestinian] resistance.”
Nearly 100 more Palestinian prisoners were handed over to Egypt, where they will stay until another country accepts them, according to a Hamas source and Egyptian media. In total, 580 prisoners and detainees will be freed in Gaza, according to Hamas.
Ambulances later arrived at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza earlier today, transporting freed Palestinians, who are set to undergo a medical examination.
