JERUSALEM: The Israeli justice ministry published a list of 95 Palestinian prisoners, the majority women, who are to be freed starting Sunday as part of the first exchange for Israeli captives under a Gaza ceasefire deal.
“The release of prisoners is... subject to government approval of the (ceasefire) plan and will not take place before Sunday at 1400 GMT,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The list includes 69 women, 16 men and 10 minors. According to the ministry, the youngest inmate on the list is 16.
The list includes only seven prisoners who were arrested before the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas raid in Israel.
Among those on the list is also Khalida Jarar, a leftist Palestinian lawmaker whom Israel arrested and imprisoned on several occasions.
Jarar is a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Detained in late December in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, the 60-year-old has been held since then without charge.
In September 2021, she was released after serving a two-year sentence in an Israeli prison for participating in PFLP activities.
According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the release of hostages as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is expected to begin Sunday.
Two sources close to Hamas said the first group of Israeli prisoners to be released consists of three women soldiers.
However, since Hamas considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians abducted during the Oct 23 raid.
The first three names on a list of the 33 set to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on the day of the Hamas raid.
Justice ministry spokeswoman Noga Katz said the final number of prisoners to be released in the first swap would depend on the number of prisoners alive.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called on political allies to vote against the Gaza deal, stating it would see the release of several Palestinians “serving life sentences for killing Israelis”.
Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2025