
Israel has freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The release came early Monday, more than seven hours after three Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza returned to Israel.
A large bus carrying dozens of Palestinian detainees exited the gates of Israel’s Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Israel’s military, which occupies the West Bank, warned Palestinians against public celebration, but crowds thronged the buses after they left the prison, some people climbing on top or waving flags, including those of Hamas.
There were fireworks and whistles, and shouts of “God is great.” Those released were hoisted onto others’ shoulders or embraced.
According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs, all of those released are women or teens, the youngest 15. Israel detained them for what it said were offenses related to Israel’s security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations like attempted murder.
The Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza.
Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half the dead.
Freed Palestinian medical student says her ‘joy is limited’
BEITUNIA, West Bank — Bara’a Al-Fuqha, 22, hugged her family as she stepped off the white Red Cross bus and into the sea of cheering Palestinians welcoming the 90 Palestinians freed by Israel early Monday.
A medical student at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem before her arrest, she had spent around six months in Damon Prison. She said she was held under administrative detention — a policy of indefinite imprisonment without formal charge or trial that Israel almost exclusively uses against Palestinians. Israel says that the cases of Palestinians released as part of the exchange with Hamas for Israeli hostages all relate to state security charges.
Al-Fuqha said her conditions in Israeli prison were “terrible,” her access to food and water limited.
“It was like, when we tried to hold our heads high, the guards would do their best to hold us down,” she said.
But now, reunited with her family, al-Fuqha displayed a sense of relief and defiance.
“Thank God, I am here with my family, I’m satisfied,” she said. “But my joy is limited, because so many among us Palestinians are being tortured and abused. Our people in Gaza are suffering. God willing, we will work to free them, too.”
That reflected a wider feeling in the crowd, with many saying this release offered a small, if fleeting, moment of joy, tempered by the 15 months of death and destruction in Gaza.

UN says more than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM — United Nations humanitarian officials say that more than 630 trucks of humanitarian aid have entered the besieged Gaza Strip, in implementation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
In a post on social media platform X, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs said that over 630 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them bringing humanitarian assistance into the north.
“There is no time to lose,” Fletcher wrote. “After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering.”
The Gaza ceasefire deal, which began Sunday with an initial phase lasting six weeks, calls for the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily. Over the course of the deal’s first stage, 33 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza will also be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Aid workers have been scrambling to address Gaza’s dire humanitarian needs after 15 months of devastating war and tough Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries and the movement of convoys within Gaza. Lawlessness and looting by armed gangs has also been a major obstacle to aid distribution.
Before this latest Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza was under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that allowed the entry of some 500 trucks a day carrying commercial supplies and humanitarian aid.
Hamas says delay in release of Palestinian prisoners the result of a conflict over list of names
JERUSALEM — Hamas’ office of prisoner affairs has issued a statement saying the delay in Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners was the result of a last-minute conflict over the names on the list.
Seven hours after three Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian crowds gathered outside Israel’s Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah were still waiting for the release of 90 Palestinians.
The Hamas statement said: “During the process of checking the names of the prisoners being released from Ofer prison, there was found to be one female prisoner missing.”
Hamas said that its officials were in communication with mediators and the Red Cross in hopes of pressuring Israel “to adhere to the agreed-upon list of prisoners.” It said that the issue was being resolved and it expected the buses of the released prisoners to soon depart.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the delay.
Israeli military fires projectiles and moves journalists awaiting release of Palestinian prisoners
The Israeli military has been firing projectiles and moving journalists waiting to cover the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire that began Sunday. That’s according to AP video, which showed smoke trailing from objects landing nearby.
The release of the 90 prisoners will take place in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Nearly seven hours have passed since the first three hostages were released from Gaza shortly after the ceasefire began.
It is now approaching 1 a.m. local time. Israel’s military has warned Palestinians against public celebration.
Trump’s national security adviser says US will back Israel if Hamas runs afoul of ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser says the U.S. has assured Israel that if Hamas runs afoul of a Gaza ceasefire deal, “we will be with them.”
Michael Waltz said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that trust and confidence is why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “felt comfortable pushing this through his government.”
He says the Trump administration will support Israel as it is “going to do what it has to do” to ensure Hamas never rules the Palestinian territory again.
Israel’s ambassador to US credits Trump and degrading of Hamas for ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — Israel’s ambassador to the United States credited President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, along with his country’s degrading of Hamas, for the ceasefire deal that took effect Sunday.
Ambassador Michael Herzog said Hamas realized they were on their own in their fight and “Trump came into the picture and said he wants a deal,” pushing them toward it.
On “Fox News Sunday,” he noted the “unprecedented cooperation” between President Joe Biden’s team and Trump’s envoys.
Going forward, he says he sees “a role for the U.S. and other regional actors to apply and create alternatives to Hamas and stabilize the situation.”
Starmer says release of a British-Israeli woman is ‘a wonderful news’
LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described the release of a British-Israeli woman along with two other hostages Sunday as “wonderful and long-overdue news.”
He also cautioned that the world must not forget about those still in captivity by Hamas militants.
Emily Damari, 28, who has dual British and Israeli nationality, was one of the three female hostages freed Sunday. Her mother, Mandy, released a statement of thanks for supporters “who never stopped saying her name.”
“After 471 days Emily is finally home,” her mother said.
Starmer said despite the news, Sunday “also represents another day of suffering for those who haven’t made it home yet.”
“While this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas,” he said. “We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Father of an Israeli-American hostage grateful to Trump for work on ceasefire
The father of an Israel-American held by Hamas says he’s grateful for the incoming Trump administration for its work on getting the ceasefire deal over the finish line.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, says the outgoing Biden administration “did extraordinary work” on the framework of the deal.
“However, it took a tweet, the subsequent statements from President-elect Trump to get this home,” the father said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “And what we ask of President Trump and his team is to keep their finger on this.”
President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, said Sunday that Sagui Dekel-Chen is one of the two Israeli-American hostages would will be released in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement over the coming weeks.
Biden’s Mideast adviser expects 800 trucks of aid into Gaza on Sunday
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser says “we have a full ceasefire in effect” and expects 800 trucks of humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza on Sunday.
Brett McGurk helped hammer out a deal in Doha, Qatar, along with President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and other mediators from Qatar and Egypt.
He noted on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that two Israeli-American hostages will come out in the first phase of the deal over the coming weeks.
“We’ve been working seamlessly with the incoming team. I think this is a testament to President Biden and to President Trump allowing us to work together,” he said.
Relatives of hostages overcome with joy
TEL AVIV, Israel — They jumped and clapped, and cried out and wept. Israel’s military has released footage of relatives watching the three released hostages meeting military representatives after being released.
The military said the three women had reached the initial reception point in Israel to be reunited with their mothers. They would have an initial medical assessment and go to a hospital.
“This is an exciting day,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, and told the freed women that “an entire nation embraces you.”
AP drone footage shows a devastated landscape in southern Gaza
Drone footage by The Associated Press in the opening hours of the ceasefire in Gaza shows a gray and devastated landscape in the southern city of Khan Younis.
The footage of what had been densely populated neighborhoods shows roofs caved in, shattered buildings and massive support beams holding up nothing at all.
The images also show Palestinians moving on foot on some of the city’s streets as people begin to assess the damage without the threat of Israeli fire.
The United Nations has said much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
Biden says ‘the guns in Gaza have gone silent’
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden says “the guns in Gaza have gone silent” under a ceasefire deal he outlined in May.
Biden spoke during a visit to a church in North Charleston, South Carolina.
Speaking of the hostages that were being released under the ceasefire, Biden said he had just received a call saying the three were being released. Although he stressed that it was early and it wasn’t immediately clear whether they were out of Gaza, Biden said: “They appear to be in good health.”
Biden said it now falls on the Trump administration to help implement the deal.
“I was pleased to have our team speak as one voice in the final days. It was both necessary and effective and unprecedented,” Biden said.
“Success is going to require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region, and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence,” the president said.

Palestinians in the West Bank gather for the expected release of 90 prisoners from Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Families and friends of some of the Palestinians prisoners set to be released from Israel in exchange for hostages in Gaza gathered in Ramallah as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag.
About 90 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and Jerusalem will be released Sunday after Hamas freed the three Israeli hostages. The Palestinians include 69 women.
Fadia Barghouti was arrested from Ramallah in April and spent three months in prison without being given a reason, she said. Tonight she hopes to see friends she had been detained with.
“I’m happy, because of the ceasefire people can live peacefully,” she said.
She said the war in Gaza is evidence that no one in the Middle East can live peacefully until Palestinians have their rights.
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