Israel released 183 Palestinians, according to Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency. They included 111 who were detained in Gaza by the Israeli military after Oct. 7, 2023, and held without trial in prisons where freed detainees and rights groups advocates say they’ve been subject to frequent abuse and violence.
Also Saturday, medical and humanitarian officials began evacuating the first group of seriously ill or wounded patients through the Rafah crossing with Egypt since it was closed by Israeli forces in May.
That reopening and the fourth round of exchanges showed the shaky ceasefire is holding, after months of fraught, frustrating negotiations….
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The Washington Post asked 10 Palestinians in Gaza about how the ceasefire has affected their lives. Their answers were, by turns, predictable and surprising.
All expressed relief at the respite from the deadliest danger: Israeli missiles and sniper drones…
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But Gazans are still living day by day. The ceasefire is planned to have three phases. There’s concern on both sides that it will collapse prematurely.
An estimated 462,000 people who fled northern Gaza during the war returned between Monday and Thursday, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That’s over a third of the more than 1 million residents of the north forced out by the Israeli military.
While the airspace is quieter — under the ceasefire deal, Israel may fly surveillance drones over Gaza only at night — death, destruction and desperation are everywhere. The fighting destroyed homes, roads, hospitals and critical infrastructure. People are eager to rebuild, but reconstruction will be an enormous undertaking, and families now are busy digging out their dead.
“Normal life still does not change,” said Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, the deputy director of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza. If anything, he said, the pause means “people have started to feel the pain [of war] and will be more and more shocked in the coming days.”….
Feb 1, 2025 – ISW Press
Hamas released three living male hostages, including one Israeli-American hostage, on February 1. Hamas released two hostages in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, and one hostage at the Gaza Port, in the northern Gaza Strip. This marked the first hostage release at the Gaza Port. Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners into the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Egypt. Eighteen of the 183 prisoners whom Israel released were serving life sentences and 100 were being held without trial in Israel following Hamas’ October 7 attack. The IDF dropped leaflets and warned Palestinians against marches and demonstrations in favor of Hamas in the West Bank following the release of prisoners.
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