JERUSALEM ( WNAM MONITORING): The Israeli prison authority said Friday it is preparing for the release of the second batch of Palestinian detainees under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
Israeli media said the release will include high-profile Palestinian detainees who have life-term sentences.
The prison authority said in a statement that it is “preparing operationally and logistically” to implement the plan for the release of the prisoners, per political agreements.
It noted that it received “the list of security prisoners” expected to be released from prisons.
The statement added that following the completion of the required administrative procedures, Israeli security forces would transfer prisoners to main gathering centers in the Ofer Prison in the central occupied West Bank and Negev Prison in southern Israel.
The prisoners will be identified by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where they will remain until finalizing the procedures of releasing the Israeli prisoners from the Gaza Strip, it added.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN named some of the Palestinians who have life-term sentences, including Zakaria Zubeidi, Ahmed Al-Barghouti, Wael Qasem and Mahmoud Atallah.
The armed wing Hamas announced Friday the names of four Israeli female soldiers who will be released Saturday in the second swap.
The head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, Qadoura Fares, left for Cairo on Friday to take part in receiving several Palestinian detainees who will be deported.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israel must release 50 Palestinian detainees in exchange for the release of a female soldier. The 50 detainees should include 30 Palestinians serving life-term sentences and 20 others who were given high-term sentences.
Saturday’s exchange is expected to see the release of four Israeli female soldiers and 200 Palestinians from Israeli jails
Israel released 90 Palestinian detainees while Hamas released three Israeli captives on Sunday, the first day of the ceasefire.
The first six-week phase of the truce has suspended Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
The three-phase agreement includes prisoner exchanges and sustained calm, aiming for a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, and its residents displaced, hungry, and prone to disease.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
