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Hamas, Israel complete fourth captive-prisoner swap
Three other buses carrying freed Palestinians also arrived in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, with the inmates in grey prison uniforms met by hundreds of well-wishers.
In Ramallah, the bus carrying the inmates struggled to make its way through the jubilant throng of supporters as it arrived from the Israeli-run Ofer Prison.
Several of the freed prisoners were hoisted onto the crowd’s shoulders, including an elderly man who raised his crutches over his head in a triumphant pose.
Earlier in Gaza, captives Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on stage by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Yunis. American-Israeli Keith Siegel was freed shortly thereafter in a similar ceremony at Gaza City’s port in the north.
Israel’s military later confirmed that all three were back in Israel.
Hamas began to release the captives on January 19 under the terms of the cease-fire deal with Israel.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters have so far handed over 18 captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them women and minors.
Israel released 183 Palestinians on Saturday.
Hamas sources said a fifth captive-prisoner exchange would take place next Saturday.
Hamas reported that many of the released Palestinian prisoners exhibit signs of torture and abuse. According to Hamas, the prisoners are currently receiving medical treatment at facilities in Gaza.
“This confirms the brutality of what the prisoners are exposed to at the hands of the fascist Zionist gang, which is devoid of all human values and ignores international laws related to prisoners,” it said in a statement.
The Gaza cease-fire deal began on January 19, intending to end the 15-month Israeli war on Gaza and free captives still held in the blockaded territory in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.