Defying Israel, thousands celebrate prisoners’ release in West Bank
Freed Palestinian prisoner Ola Joudeh with her fatherin Beitunia, 20 January 2025
Oren Ziv reports in +972 on 20 January 2025:
With the world’s attention fixated on the release of three Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity on Sunday evening, much less was made of the release of 90 Palestinians from Israeli prison — most of whom had been held for months without charges. The first exchanges of the Gaza ceasefire agreement were due to take place more or less in tandem, but Israel delayed the release from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank by around seven hours, leaving the families of prisoners waiting until 1 a.m to be reunited with their loved ones.
Israel blamed the delay on the Red Cross, while Palestinian officials claimed there was an issue with Israel’s list of prisoners to be released. Overall, the process surrounding their release was marked by the collective punishment that is characteristic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Thousands of Palestinians — including prisoners’ families, activists, and former prisoners — crammed into the main square in Beitunia, near Ramallah, waiting for hours in the cold to receive their loved ones without knowing when the 72 prisoners and detainees would arrive (12 others, due to be released to East Jerusalem, were also delayed). The crowd lit fires to stay warm, and some youths burned a pile of tires in an attempt to block the expected advances of the Israeli army.
The Palestinian Authority’s security forces later came to extinguish the fires in order to avoid giving Israel any excuse to delay the prisoners’ release. However, it seemed that between Israel’s military, which had committed to preventing scenes of celebration on the streets of the West Bank, and settlers, who were angered by the freeing of Palestinian prisoners, there were plenty who were eager for the release to be postponed.
During the previous exchange of captives in November 2023, Red Cross buses transported prisoners from Ofer Prison to central Ramallah where they were greeted by a joyous crowd. This time, Israel decided to bring them to Beitunia, on the outskirts of the city, in an attempt to minimize another large public display of Palestinian national pride.