Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners early Monday, hours after three Israeli hostages were released from Hamas custody in Gaza. Fireworks erupted as large white buses carrying the detainees left Israel's Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Crowds of Palestinians rushed to the buses, chanting slogans. According to a list from the Palestinian Authority's Prisoner Affairs Commission, all of those released were women or minors.

Israel detained all the people on the list for crimes related to state security, from stone-throwing to more serious charges such as attempted murder. The Israeli army, which occupies the West Bank, has repeatedly warned Palestinians against any kind of public celebration.

accused of spoiling the atmosphere

The release took place at midnight, which Palestinians criticized as an attempt to spoil the atmosphere and prevent crowds from welcoming the prisoners home. The most prominent of the freed detainees is Khalida Jarrar, 62, a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, a secular leftist group that was involved in kidnappings and other attacks against Israel in the 1970s.

killed in Israeli airstrike

Since his arrest in December 2023, Jarrar has been held under administrative detention orders indefinitely. Dalal Khasib, the 53-year-old sister of the late senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in January 2024, is also being released along with Abla Abdelrasol, the wife of imprisoned PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat.

Two thousand prisoners will be released.

The swap deal, set out as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, involves the gradual release of 33 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Palestinian territory over the next six weeks in exchange for Israel releasing about 2,000 prisoners.